Cy Sneed

Sneed attended Twin Falls High School in Twin Falls, Idaho. In 2011, his senior year, Sneed pitched to a 9–0 win–loss record with a 1.36 earned run average (ERA) with 130 strikeouts, and batted .467 with 11 home runs and 38 runs batted in. He led his team to win the Class 4A state championship.[1] Sneed was named the Times-News Player of the Year,[2] and the Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year for Idaho.[1]

The Texas Rangers selected Sneed in the 35th round of the 2011 MLB draft. He did not sign, opting to enroll at Dallas Baptist University to play NCAA baseball for the Dallas Baptist Patriots. He played with the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2013.[3] As a junior at Dallas Baptist in 2014, Sneed had an 8–3 win–loss record with a 3.55 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 104 innings pitched.[4]

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Sneed in the third round of the 2014 MLB draft,[5] and he signed with the Brewers. After signing, he was assigned to the Helena Brewers where he pitched to an 0–2 record and 5.92 ERA in 11 games. Sneed spent the first half of the 2015 season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, and after going 3–7 with a 2.68 ERA in 15 games (13 starts), was named a Midwest League All-Star.[2] He spent the second half of the season with the Brevard County Manatees where he pitched to a 3–4 record and 2.47 ERA in 11 games started.[6]

On November 19, 2015, the Brewers traded Sneed to the Houston Astros for Jonathan Villar.[7] He spent the 2016 season with the Corpus Christi Hooks where he posted a 6–5 record and 4.04 ERA in 25 games.[8] In 2017, he pitched for both Corpus Christi and the Fresno Grizzlies, going a combined 10–6 with a 5.97 ERA and 1.59 WHIP in 26 total games (18 starts) between the two teams.[9] He returned to Fresno in 2018.[10] In 2019, Sneed opened the season with the Round Rock Express, and was named to the Pacific Coast League all-star team.[11] He posted a 7–6 record with a 4.19 ERA over 81.2 innings for them.

On June 27, 2019, the Astros promoted Sneed to the major leagues.[12] With Houston in 2019, Sneed posted a 0–1 record with a 5.48 ERA over 21+1⁄3 innings. In 2020 he was 0–3 with a 5.71 ERA in 18 relief appearances over 17+1⁄3 innings in which he struck out 21 batters.[13]

On December 2, 2020, the Astros requested unconditional release waivers on Sneed so that he could sign with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball.[14]

On November 2, 2022, Sneed re-signed with the Swallows for the 2023 season. On June 23, 2023, Sneed tossed a complete game shutout against the Chunichi Dragons; he allowed 6 hits and struck out 5 batters in the game to earn his seventh consecutive win.[15]