2 Padres who've earned an apology from their doubters, and 1 not quite there

3) San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell hasn't earned an apology quite yet but is trending in the right direction

There aren't many more frustrating pitchers in baseball than Blake Snell. The talent has always been there, but inconsistency and injuries have tormented him.

After Snell finished last season so strongly, I had high hopes for him entering the season. Those hopes faded awfully quickly when Snell got off to an abysmal start to his season.

Through his first nine starts of the season, Snell had an ERA of 5.40. He had 27 walks in 45 innings, and the Padres were just 1-8 in his starts. Not ideal.

In his last four starts, Snell has begun to turn his season around. He's allowed two runs in 24 innings pitched, pitching to a 0.75 ERA in those starts.

The problem here is these starts have been against mostly bottom feeders, with good outings against the Nationals, Marlins, Cubs, and Rockies. Now I get that the Marlins have been good, but their offense is still subpar. And I get that the Rockies start was at Coors Field, but Colorado is one of the worst teams in the majors.

In his starts against good offenses most of Snell's starts have been pretty brutal. His start this weekend against the Rays will be a huge test for him.

Snell is definitely on the right track, but I just need to see more from a pitcher who's been so incredibly inconsistent his entire Padres tenure.