Jordan Montgomery vs Blake Snell: A Comparison of Performance and Contract Deals

This article is compiled from An early look at Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell

About two months ago, the spring training fields began reporting, symbolizing the end of winter and the arrival of the new season. As most of the players appeared and started playing warm-up games, two were absent.

individually ranked in our pre-seasonFree agents were fifth and sixthBlake Snell and Jordan Montgomery signed eye-watering deals right before the start of the season, and Montgomery found a new owner just two days before the home opener. They can only accept shorter contracts than expected, and the total value is far below the 188 million we expected.

As the first signee, Snell took the mound first after only having an infield game with his teammates, he took the plate in the 11th game of the Giants’ season. Montgomery was first assigned to Triple-A and started two games for Leno’s team before returning to the major leagues and pitching last Saturday. And his first game was very interesting, against Snell and his Giants. It also gave us an opportunity to compare “how it will affect the performance of the two after experiencing an unusual off-season.”

Considering the past performance of the two and the soap opera of the offseason, the “Snell vs. Montgomery” matchup is especially attractive, but there is also a lot of uncertainty. How will Montgomery play in the first game? Can Snell bounce back after two straight blowouts? Do their skills get a little rusty after a month of missing?

Snell pitched relatively flat in the first half of the inning After getting a hit on his first at bat, Snell used his slider and turn to take three catches. Then it was Montgomery’s turn to face a Giants line full of righties like Austin Slater and Tom Murphy. Slater hit first, and Montgomery’s first pitch of the season was 91.4 miles, nearly 2 miles less than last year’s average.

His ball speed throughout the game fell within this range, which was obviously a result of the late start to the game. Slater eventually hit a low-angle curveball that popped out, and the next two batters went out as well.

Aside from both being lefties signed to short-term contracts, Snell and Montgomery have almost nothing in common, most notably their recreational styles. Snell never limited himself to the traditional strike zone, adept at using fastballs above the strike zone and changeups below to confuse hitters. His high strikeout and high walk pattern helped him win two Cy Young Awards, but in the four years between the two Cy Young Awards, he only had a 96 ERA.

On the other hand, Montgomery is completely responsible for the strike zone and is known for his excellent ball control and rich vertical changes. Although he never reached Snell’s heights, he accumulated more WAR than Snell over the past three seasons.

Snell pitched a clean three-for-three in the second inning. Gabriel Moreno, who hit last, struggled for seven pitches After falling behind with one good ball and three bad, he used a fastball with a low strike zone to force Moreno to miss the swing. number of pitches, two fastballs and four sliders to use to hit the bat. He struck him out with a wheel ball that was low and inside.

This is what Snell does when he’s good, even if he doesn’t hit the strike zone, he can control the ball where he wants it to go. After using fastballs and low sliders to get hitters to target that spot, Moreno chased down a bad ball that fell two inches beyond Snell’s other pitches. Last season, Snell was second in the league with 310 strikeouts outside the strike zone, most of his changeups landed early after the fastball was established.

Unfortunately, Snell’s strategy could not be implemented consistently in the remaining games. Too many balls went straight to the red. In the fourth inning, Alasdair struck out again, this time against his fastball. Snell allowed four more hits in the fifth inning and eventually left the game before finishing the inning. The Diamondbacks allowed nine hits against him, his most since 2019.

Most of Snell’s hits were pitches caught in the red by Diamondbacks defenders, a rarity for a guy who rarely entered the strike zone. But in a small sample size of three starts, Snell threw more pitches to the red, resulting in worse hits and fewer strikeouts.

20232024fast ball 24% 25% curveball 12% 19% Descendant 14% 16% change member 16% 29%