Getting to Know....Ian Snell

From time to time I find myself wasting my hours poring over stats. Baseball stats. Basketball stats. Football stats. 82 Games. DatabaseSports. Ken Pomeroy. I love this kind of stuff, and I spend tons of time making my own little charts and comparisons between players. Sometimes as I am toiling endlessly, looking at WHIP and ADJ FG% and the like, I come across a player that just makes me scratch my head. "Wow, how have I never heard of THIS guy?" So now when I come across these guys, I am going to let you know, so you can pick them up in fantasy or just watch and enjoy.

Ian Snell:
2006 Stats: 14-11, 4.74 ERA, 169 K
2007 Stats: 1-1, 2.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 100% QS%

Why You Should Care:
Snell led the Pirates in wins and K's last season, and has already been showing that 2007 is going to be his breakout season. And at only 25 years old, Snell is primed to be starting for the Pirates...for at least the next season and a half, when some large market team will swoop in and trade for the potential ace.

Interesting Factoids:
-Snell won the John J. Brady Athelete of the Year award in January. In case you were wondering, the award is given anually to the top athelete from the state of Delaware. How can you not root for a guy from Delaware?
-In a radio interview this past October Snell said that "I would never be caught living in Pittsburgh. It's not my type of city." So...about that trade...

Coming Up:
Snell is starting tonight against the Reds.

Update:
Snell's line tonight: 7 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 K, 2 BB against the Reds, picking up his second win of the season.