Giants manager Bob Melvin announced on Monday that Blake Snell is set to make his debut for San Francisco on April 8 against the Washington Nationals.
Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, recently signed a $62 million, two-year contract with the Giants on March 18. He has been training at extended spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona, to prepare his arm for the upcoming season.
The left-handed pitcher will participate in a simulated game on Wednesday in Los Angeles, where the Giants are playing a series against the Dodgers. Melvin mentioned that Snell is expected to throw around 70 pitches during the simulation.
Melvin expressed that Snell still needs a bit more preparation before his debut, stating, “It just doesn’t feel like we’re there yet for him. So I think he’s going to feel a lot better (after Wednesday).”
He added, “The first couple of games, he had a lot of strikeouts with guys who are just sitting on a fastball. So we can get some guys in there that will probably challenge him a little bit more. And then, we’ll be ready to go after that.”
In the previous season, Snell performed well with a 14-9 record and a 2.25 ERA for the San Diego Padres, earning him the NL Cy Young Award alongside his 2018 AL Cy Young with the Tampa Bay Rays.
