WASHINGTON -- One of the most egregious All-Star snubs in recent memory turned out to not be a snub at all. Rays southpaw Blake Snell, who led the American League in ERA on the day the All-Star rosters were announced, was named to the All-Star team as a replacement last week. Thank goodness for that. He deserved it.

Snell this season owns a 2.27 ERA (176 ERA+) with 134 strikeouts in 119 innings. That comes after pitching to a 3.83 ERA (106 ERA+) in 218.1 innings from 2016-17. Snell is only 25, and young players get better all the time, sometimes demonstrably from one season to the next. And it's not like Snell came out of nowhere. Baseball America ranked him as the game's No. 12 prospect in 2016.

In Snell's case, there's a very specific adjustment that allowed him to make the jump from promising youngster to bona fide ace. Specifically, Snell changed his position on the rubber. He moved from the extreme third base side of the rubber to the middle. Check it out:

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Blake Snell has changed his position on the rubber and gotten big results. MLB.com/CBS Sports

It might not seem like much, shifting a few inches on the rubber, but it can make a significant difference. All the angles change. The way right-handed and left-handed batters see the ball out of Snell's hand changes. And in Snell's case, shifting on the rubber better allowed him attack the strike zone.

"I worked with (former Rays pitching coach) Jim Hickey and (bullpen coach) Stan Boroski. It's just something we felt would allow me to be more in the zone," said Snell. "And that's what ended up happening."

Snell did not change his position on the mound over the winter. This is not something he tried in spring training. Snell made the adjustment on the fly in the middle of last season.

Here are his game-by-game horizontal release points since the start of last season:

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Blake Snell changed his position on the mound last July. Brooks Baseball

That big jump last July? That's when Snell changed his position on the rubber. We have the specific date: July 24, 2017. That's the first time Snell pitched from the middle of the rubber in a big league game. 

The numbers before and after July 24 of last season speak for themselves:


IP ERA FIP K% BB% GB% HR/9

Before July 24, 2017

145

4.10

4.08

22.8

13.5

37.7

0.81

Since July 24, 2017

192 1/3

2.67

3.42

26.3

9.0

45.0

0.89

Improvement across the board. Well, except in home run rate. Considering all the improvement elsewhere, that home run problem is not a problem at all. Snell has been outstanding since the adjustment.

Truth be told, changing a pitcher's position on the rubber is a Jim Hickey trademark. He had Fernando Rodney move to the third base side of the rubber a few years ago and Rodney had the best season of his career. Hickey is with the Cubs now, but Tampa had Wilmer Font change his position on the rubber this season and he was a revelation for the Rays before going down with an injury.

Most notably, the Cubs had Jake Arrieta shift to the extreme third base side of the rubber years ago, and it helped turn him into an ace. Snell went into the other direction on the rubber, though the results are similar. He went from middling starter to an ace-caliber performance. That slight adjustment changed everything.

"I feel a lot more comfortable," Snell said. "It just made me more consistent in the zone."