Rays promote Blake Snell

The future is here in Tampa Bay. 

The Rays announced on Friday that top left-handed pitching prospect Blake Snell will be coming to the Major Leagues. The news was first reported by Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. 

Snell will make his Major League debut against the New York Yankees, when he will start tomorrow at 1:05 P.M. Eastern. 

The 23-year-old Snell has made three starts thus far this season for Triple-A Durham, going 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA and a 21 to 7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14 1/3 innings pitched. 

MLB.com named Snell as the 12th-best prospect in baseball, giving him a fantastic scouting report, grading out above-average with both his fastball and slider (Snell also offers a changeup), but possessing below-average control.

The Rays drafted Snell in the 1st round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Shorewood High School (Washington).

He's moved rather quickly through the minors, especially in 2015, when he started the season in Single-A Advanced and made it to Triple-A by the year's end. 

Overall, Snell went 15-4 with a 1.41 ERA and a 163 to 53 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 134 innings pitched last season, being named the 2015 Minor League Pitcher of the Year by Baseball America. 

Snell's initial Major League impact remains to be seen, but he has not been needed in Tampa thus far because the team has only needed one fifth starter. That was back on April 16, when Erasmo Ramirez made the start. 

The Tampa Bay Rays have brought on yet another young starting pitcher to potentially make an impact at the big league level. And his name is Blake Snell. 

​--Devan Fink

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