Ian Snell Lovefest Article

[Witlon]

Credit: Sportsticker/Jim Keller
Link : Pirates' Snell emerging as one of National League's best - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

Zach Duke has not come close to approaching his 2005 promise of leading the staff in a very mediocre National League Central Division. Adam LaRoche, acquired from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason, has been in a season-long slump as the offense has struggled to score runs.

But Pittsburgh (30-39), which is on its way to a 15th consecutive losing season, has discovered two young pitchers it can build around in 23-year-old Tom Gorzelanny and 25-year-old Ian Snell.

Both have been consistent all season, but it was Snell on Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers who took a big step forward.

The righthander tossed a seven-hitter for his first career complete game in his 52nd start to improve to 6-4 and lower his ERA to 2.63, fifth in the National League.

"It's a great feeling, the first one, to get it out of the way," Snell said. "I was tired of hearing people say you can't go more than seven innings, so here you go."

Snell had to talk manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn into not pulling him in favor of John Grabow in the eighth inning.

"I saw Grabow throwing and I was like, 'What is going on?'" Snell said. "And I told (Colborn), 'Don't take me out; what is wrong with you?' So I thought they were taking me out, but then Tracy was like, 'Finish it.' So I finished it."

But it always wasn't a great feeling for Snell, who was a 26th-round draft pick in 2000 out of Dover, Delaware.

Known as Ian Oquendo in his early minor league days, Snell quickly established himself as one of the top pitching prospects in the organization after going 11-0 in his first three years.

However, Snell never was regarded as one of the best in the minor leagues, mostly because he stands just 5-11. And unless your name is Pedro Martinez or Roy Oswalt, being under 6 feet works against you having a successful major-league career as a starter.

But after Snell completed a 58-19 record during his minor-league stops, he earned a spot in the Bucs' rotation for the 2006 season. An erratic start that saw his ERA above 6.00 until his 10th outing made fans impatient with the minor league phenom.

"I went through a whole bunch of ups and downs (last season) and people were like, 'Get him out of here, get him out of here,'" Snell said. And that was bothering me and everybody was like, 'Relax.' I relaxed and won 14 games last year."

Indeed, Snell finished with the most wins by a Pirate since Todd Ritchie won 15 games in 1999. He was the only Pittsburgher to strike out 10 batters in a game, doing it three times.

And the smallish fireballer, who can reach the mid-90s with his fastball and possesses an outstanding breaking ball and quality changeup, has continued to flourish this season.

Snell has lasted at least six innings in 12 of 14 starts and allowed three earned runs or fewer 12 times. He has not allowed more than four runs (three times) in any start this season.

"He has command of three pitches and with the stuff he has, when he's commanding three pitches like he does the task at hand on the other side of the field is obviously very, very difficult," Tracy said.

In his four losses (seven runs) and his four no-decisions (13 runs), Snell has never received more than three runs of support. Only San Diego Padres righthander Jake Peavy's 12 quality starts better the 11 by Snell, who has won his last four home starts, turning the jeers into cheers.

"People have their opinions and they were getting on me," Snell said. "I just like to prove people wrong."

[Witlon]

Nice to see Snell getting love from the non-local press. He's certainly deserved it all season, and it's about time.