During the two seasons they shared as Tampa Bay Rays, young left-hander Blake Snell talked with veteran catcher Jesús Sucre regularly. The topics included baseball, with Sucre offering explanation of pitch sequences and ways to approach opposing batters, but the conversations often dipped into other aspects of life. Sucre wanted to help the developing ace however he could.
In the second of those two seasons together, Snell won the 2018 American League Cy Young Award as the league’s best pitcher; in 10 starts with Sucre behind the plate, Snell had a 1.06 ERA. With the Orioles visiting the Rays this week, the battery was in opposing clubhouses for the first time since Sucre signed with Baltimore this offseason, but their bond is not diminished.