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Blake Snell’s abbreviated season with the San Francisco Giants apparently is coming to a premature end.

Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, was due to start Saturday in the next-to-last contest of the year against the visiting Cardinals. However, after St. Louis won the opener of the three-game series 6-3 on Friday, the Giants announced that Tristan Beck would get the ball instead.

The Cardinals (82-78) will counter with right-hander Andre Pallante, attempting to cap his first full season as mostly a starter with a third consecutive stellar outing.

Snell was signed in March with the intention of joining Logan Webb to become one of baseball’s most potent 1-2 combinations as the Giants (79-81) sought to reach the postseason for the first time since 2021.

However, the 31-year-old struggled early after not attending spring training and twice landed on the injured list before finally regaining his previous form in July.

Snell had been on top of his game since his return on July 9, pitching to a 1.23 ERA in 14 starts.

His record in those games, however, suffered from a lack of offensive support. Even though the Giants won 12 of those 14 games, Snell got the win just five times, without taking a loss.

Snell figures to be popular once again in free agency this winter should he opt out of the second and final year of the deal he signed in March. He would be leaving $30 million on the table in order to seek a longer-term deal and potentially a different team.

San Francisco president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi admits he fully expects Snell to test the market again, but he asserted that the Giants would be at or near the front of the line to re-sign him.

“He’s been the best pitcher in baseball the second half of the season,” Zaidi said. “We’re very encouraged about what he has said about being here, how much he likes being here, how much he has enjoyed his time in San Francisco, how much he likes playing for Bob (Melvin).

“I think we’ll be pretty high on his list.”

Beck (0-0, 1.50 ERA) will make his seventh appearance and first start of the year. The right-hander spent the majority of the season on the injured list following an operation to remove an aneurysm in his upper right arm. His most recent start came in the exact same point of the 2023, in Game 161, when he pitched six innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In two career relief appearances against the Cardinals, both last year, Beck had no decisions and allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Pallante (8-8, 3.71 ERA) has been Snell-like in his past two starts, allowing one run and five hits over 14 combined innings during wins against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians.

The 26-year-old Southern California native is 1-0 with a 6.00 ERA in five career appearances against the Giants. His lone start vs. San Francisco came on June 20, when he permitted five run on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings yet still emerged with a 6-5 victory.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol has been impressed with the way his inexperienced starter — Pallante has made just 29 career starts and began this season in the bullpen — has improved not just game to game, but batter to batter.

“He is adapting and making adjustments on the fly, and that’s what you want to see out of your guys,” Marmol said. “It’s their ability to make an adjustment in-game rather than wait for the side session between starts. … These little adjustments are crucial to development.”

–Field Level Media