Tampa Bay Rays ace Blake Snell won the inaugural MLB The Show Players League on Sunday with a three-game sweep against the Chicago White Sox‘s Lucas Giolito in the best-of-five championship series.
Snell’s Rays beat Giolito’s White Sox 5-1 in Game 1, 3-2 in Game 2, and 6-0 in Game 3. The three-inning games were televised on ESPN.
The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Suncoast will receive a $25,000 donation thanks to Snell’s championship victory. In addition, MLB, the players’ association and Sony donated $5,000 on behalf of each participating player to a Boys & Girls Club affiliate in his team’s community.
Snell tweeted “I NEEED IT SO BAD” after his victory.
I NEEED IT SO BAD
#playersleaguechamp pic.twitter.com/MrsxggpUkc
— Blake Snell (@snellzilla4) May 3, 2020
The Rays also congratulated Snell on Twitter by raising a virtual banner in his honor.
Raise the banner. pic.twitter.com/Nlb2xJX7Vp
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 3, 2020
Players from all 30 teams competed in the league, which featured a 29-game regular season.
The Texas Rangers‘ Joey Gallo was voted by fans and players as the league’s Best Player after starting out 11-0 in the league and earning the No. 2 seed for the postseason.
The other awards:
-
Best Twitch Name: Bo Bichette, Toronto Blue Jays (“BoFlows”).
-
Best Manager: Dwight Smith Jr., Baltimore Orioles. Smith made the postseason with a 19-10 record despite the Orioles’ 69 rating in MLB The Show.
-
Most Entertaining Streamer: Brett Phillips, Kansas City Royals,
-
In-Game MVP: Aaron Hicks, New York Yankees. With Tommy Kahnle at the controls, Hicks hit 14 home runs with 28 RBIs in 29 games.
-
Best Reaction: Rhys Hoskins, Philadelphia Phillies and Cole Tucker, Pittsburgh Pirates. During their game against each other, Tucker vowed to Hoskins he would name his first-born child after the Phillies outfielder if he homered in his next at-bat. Hoskins proceeded to homer on the next pitch.
-
Best Cameo: Gallo, who hit 13 homers with 26 RBIs using himself in the game.