Good vibrations

Welcome to another exciting season of baseball, especially Delaware baseball!!!

I haven't posted on the blog in a while but felt like I should do so based on a feeling and some research. As Ian Snell took Jeff Francoeur of the Braves to a 3-2 count after striking him out in the second inning, I got to thinking "Ian owns Francoeur. I bet if he gets him here that Francoeur will be his top strikeout victim in his career."

Now I loves me some Delaware baseball, but I don't go perusing the batter/pitcher matchups to know this stuff. It was just a vibe. Francoeur drew ball four and I started researching the issue. Turns out I was close. Francoeur is tied for second on Snell's all-time K victim list with six. Adam Dunn, Brad Ausmus and Ryan Howard all have been set down on strikes a half dozen times by Snell. Snell's favorite target has been Craig Biggio. Snell struck Biggio out 9 times in 25 at bats. I don't know if this played a part in Biggio retiring after last season but it probably should have.

Snell has a way to go before he can match the strikeout dominance that Chris Short showed over Lou Brock. Brock, despite hitting .298 against Short only drew two walks in 114 plate appearances against Short and struck out a total of 28 times.

Snell got the start on opening day. I talked about this a couple of years ago. Snell is the first native Delawarean since Chris Short to pitch the opener for his team.