It's difficult to pinpoint what went wrong for Snell, whose ERA balloned nearly two runs from last year's 3.72 mark. The cause may have been fatigue or injury, considering how drastically his walk rate rose, from 2.94 BB/9 to 4.87. Better conditioning could spark a return to form.

Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell allowed one run on one hit over five innings Friday, Sept. 26, against the San Diego Padres, according to The Associated Press. He walked one and struck out five, improving to 7-12 on the season. Snell won for the third time in his last four road starts, and is 3-2 with a 4.26 ERA in seven starts since Tuesday, Aug. 19.

News: Pirates SP Ian Snell pitched only five innings Friday at San Diego, but he picked up his seventh victory in the process, allowing one run on one hit and one walk. He recorded five strikeouts. "I just wanted to finish the season strong, and that's what I did," Snell said. "There's no guessing about it, I finished stronger than I started."

Analysis: Snell still had a disappointing season overall, posting a 5.42 ERA, but he did start to look better later in the year. He still has nice sleeper and strikeout potential, but he'll probably go mostly undrafted in mixed leagues in 2009

Ian Snell finished five innings, yielding just one hit and one run as the Pirates topped the Padres 6-3. Sadly, it qualifies as one of his best performances. He finishes the year 7-12 with a 5.24 ERA in 164 1/3 innings. Snell led all qualified starting pitchers in the National League with 25% of batted balls as line drives, so unless he is able to reduce that type of contact next year, his 2009 will look strikingly similar to 2008.

Ian Snell finished five innings yielding just one hit and one run as the Pirates topped the Padres 6-3. Subtract the solo home run to Nick Hundley in the fifth and Snell had one of his best performances of the season. Snell give up just one hit and striking out five for his seventh win. He finishes the year 7-12 with a 5.24 ERA in 164 1/3 innings. Snell led all qualified starting pitchers in the National League with 25% of batted balls as line drives, so unless he is able to reduce that type of contact next year, 2009 will look strikingly similar to 2008.

Ian Snell only issued one earned run on one hit over five innings in Friday's 6-3 win over the Padres, with one walk and five strikeouts.Snell struggled for most of the season, but ended on a high note, as he only allowed one earned run in each of his last two starts.

MLB.com reports Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell (6-12, 5.54 ERA) will start Friday, Sept. 26, against the San Diego Padres.

News: Pirates SP Ian Snell battled control problems in a loss against the Astros on Friday. Snell, who didn't allow a hit until one out in the fourth inning, gave up one earned run and three hits in six innings. But the right-hander walked five, including two in the fourth. He finished with three strikeouts. "He was having trouble throwing the ball over the plate," Pittsburgh manager John Russell said. "It would have helped if he could have gone deeper in the game. He's in a rut where he's having trouble locating the ball over the plate."

Analysis: Snell has walked 88 in 159 1/3 innings this year after walking just 68 in 208 inning in 2007. "I've struggled all year with my control," Snell said. "I can't pinpoint why. I didn't expect to walk five people. I managed to limit the damage." Snell has struggled all season after a breakout 2007, becoming virtually unrosterable in mixed leagues. You can't discount his upside, but he'll enter 2009 as nothing more than a deep sleeper in Fantasy. His next start is scheduled for Friday at San Diego

The Associated Press reports Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell gave up one earned run and three hits while walking five in six innings Friday, Sept. 19.

Nice to see Snell get back on track, as he was torched by the Cardinals for six runs on nine hits over just four innings when he last took the hill. The streaky right-hander has been relatively sharp of late, delivering six quality starts in his last eight tries while striking out 37 batters over 46 frames in that span. His next scheduled outing is Sept. 26 in San Diego.

Alden Gonzalez, of MLB.com, reports Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell is 2-4 with a 4.41 ERA in his career against the Houston Astros.

MLB.com reports Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell (6-11, 5.69 ERA) will start Friday, Sept. 19, against the Houston Astros.

One wouldn't expect Randy Wolf and Ian Snell to be battling it out in a pitchers dual, but that very well could be the case tonight. The Astros' September OPS of .651 is a Major League worst, and Pittsburgh's .705 mark isn't much better, fifth from the bottom. Randy Wolf has been good in his nine career starts against the Pirates; 6-1 with a 3.64 ERA, and Ian Snell best outing, a quality start in early September, was against the Astros.Snell actually struck out nine in six innings, allowing but three runs in the game.

One wouldn't expect Randy Wolf and Ian Snell to be battling it out in a pitchers dual, but that very well could be the case tonight. The Astros' September OPS of .651 is a Major League last, and Pittsburgh's .705 mark isn't much better, fifth from the bottom. Randy Wolf has been good in his nine career starts against the Pirates; 6-1 with a 3.64 ERA, and Ian Snell best outing, a quality start in early September, was against the Astros.Snell actually struck out nine in six innings, allowing but three runs in the game.

Pittsburgh Pirates SP Ian Snell, who was originally scheduled to pitch Sunday, Sept. 14, against the St. Louis Cardinals, instead had his start moved ahead one day, as a result of an injury to Saturday's original starter, Jeff Karstens (tooth), according to The Associated Press. Snell allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings, with no walks and three strikeouts, and ended up with a no-decision.

Ian Snell issued five earned runs on nine hits over a mere four innings of work in Saturday's 7-6 win over the Cardinals, with no walks and three strikeouts.He continues to struggle and ended his poor outing with a no decision. He only recorded six wins over 29 starts in 2008.

News: Pittsburgh SP Ian Snell, making Saturday's start vs. the Cardinals because Jeff Karstens couldn't go, did not fare very well. He didn't factor into the decision. Snell allowed six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits over just four innings. He didn't walk a batter and had three K's.

Analysis: Snell is scheduled to pitch next on Friday against the Astros. He's just 2-3 over his last eight starts and is really limited to being an NL-only starter at this time. We don't recommend starting him in Fantasy Week 25 (Sept. 15-21)

Updating an earlier report, Jeff Karstens has been scratched from Saturday's scheduled start against St. Louis due to abscessed tooth, according to the AP. He is being replaced by Ian Snell.Karstens' next start will be Tuesday against the Dodgers.