3 San Diego Padres who have keyed seven-game winning streak

Blake Snell

Despite the Padres' position in the standings, left-hander Blake Snell is still getting some serious consideration for the National League Cy Young Award ... and why not? He has been the most consistent pitcher on the staff this season and any run support of any kind and his numbers would be much better. It should not come as a surprise that he has played a big part in the winning streak with his two starts.

On September 13 against the Dodgers, he threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight, dropping his ERA to 2.43. He threw 91 pitches and recorded five groundouts and just fly-ball outs in his outing. He did a nice job of mixing pitches and keeping a very good-hitting team off balance and guessing all night.

If you think that start was good, believe it or not, he had a better one against the Rockies. In what was likely his final start at home in Southern California if reports are to be believed, he worked seven hitless innings with 10 strikeouts but did walk four and lowered his ERA to 2.33. Robert Suarez pitched a hitless eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts, before Josh Hader allowed two hits in the top of the ninth, but did not allow a run. In the bottom of the ninth, Bogaerts hit the walk-off homer to extend the streak to six games.

What happens this offseason in terms of a contract for Snell and where he gets it, but one thing is for sure, he stabilized the rotation and was their top arm all season long. He is going to get paid wherever he ends up in 2024.