How a difficult season transformed Blake Snell into the Dodgers' October ace

"It's easy to forget now, with Blake Snell in the midst of a historic October performance that has helped lead the Dodgers back to the World Series. But for most of his debut season in Los Angeles, the two-time Cy Young Award winner and $182 million offseason signing was grappling with frustration, enduring what he described recently as "the hardest year of my career.""

"A shoulder problem that Snell quietly pitched through in two underwhelming starts at the beginning of the campaign, before sidelining him on the injured list for the next four months. Then, there was an ordeal Snell detailed last week for the first time: In late August, on the same day his wife Haeley gave birth to the couple's second child, Snell got so sick in the hospital that he fainted, was taken to the emergency room, and kept overnight hooked up to IV fluids."

""You can find an excuse, or you can find a way to figure it out," Snell told The Times last week, while reflecting on a difficult season now primed for a triumphant final act. "It's been a lot. But that's what this is all about. Find the best in yourself. Fight through all the doubt, the bull-. And figure it out.""

For much of the year the Dodgers' starting rotation appeared broken as Blake Snell, the $182 million offseason signing, struggled to find consistency. Snell pitched through a shoulder problem in two poor early starts before spending four months on the injured list. In late August he became so ill at the hospital after his wife gave birth that he fainted and required overnight IV fluids. Snell called it the hardest year of his career but has a 0.86 ERA in his first three playoff outings and will start Game 1 of the World Series. The Dodgers also faced offensive inconsistency and bullpen struggles.

Read at Los Angeles Times