2009 season, Matthias, Toronto Blue Jays

Sorry Mr.Snider, Travis Snider’s D still sucks

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travis-snider-D.jpg

It was back in 2006. One of the first ever articles on Mopupduty.com was a prospect bio on Travis Snider. In the comments section myself and others were going back and forth on Snider’s defensive ceiling. I said the following

I think he has no chance in playing RF in the majors. I’m surprised that they let him play there now. I guess at 18 he?can develop some defensive skills but it’s a good thing he was drafted by an AL team.

This didn’t sit too well with Travis Snider’s dad, Denne Snider. He came in and left the following:

I do not know where your resources come from but this kid has a good arm and plays defense extremely well. Mark my words you do not know what you are talking about. Lets just see. He is also a very good first baseman, but what do I know, I am his dad.
DENNE SNIDER

(On a side note, props to a father taking the time to sort out the blogsphere taking trash about their kids)

We’ve had a decent sample this season of Travis in RF and LF. 62 games to be exact. His UZR/150 is -12.2, which would make him the 10th worst outfielder in the MLB (UZR) if he qualified.

Is Travis totally to blame? I don’t think so. He’s started at DH 74 times in his minor league career. About 50 of these DH starts were due to an elbow injury. The other 24? Beats me. Why take valuable reps from a youngster?

As much as it pains me (to watch at least), Cito should continue to pencil Travis into LF or RF for the rest of the season. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll improve. Otherwise it’s conceivable that the 2010 Jays could have five regulars that should be DHing (Snider, Lind, Wells, Ruiz, Encarnacion)

Matthias Koster
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has written for mopupduty.com since 2006. Follow Matthias on Twitter, Facebook and Google +

  • Wells’ a DH? i thought you had to be a good hitter to DH…

  • In my humble opinion, you’re putting a little too much stock into UZR ratings. I don’t give a fuck what his rating is, Wells is no DH.

    As for Snider, he will improve. Guaranteed.

  • He doesn’t LOOK bad in the OF, but I can’t argue with the numbers.

  • Zack

    I am in no way defending Snider as an outfielder (from what I’ve seen, he seems average at best) but UZR is a high variance stat and you cannot feel vindicated by referencing a 62 game sample split between two positions. For instance, Vernon Wells UZR’s in 2003 was -18.3. The next season, it was 9.9.

  • I can see what you’re saying Zack about Variance. The thing is his minor league track record supports subpar D throughout his career. He’s improved his D, yet was -6 runs in AAA this season, even runs in 2007 and -28 runs in 2006.

  • Sorry Eyeblear, your comment got caught up in our moderation section (probably due to the potty mouth language). You may be right on the UZR front. Still, Snider’s fielding percentage is a terrible .962 and his range factor is in the bottom 1/4 of the MLB. Snider’s Range Factor (RF) in right is lower than Rios’ was during his Toronto time and Travis’ RF in LF is equally to that of Adam Lind.

    Is Wells not a DH due to his shitty hitting or because he’s too good of a fielder? The latter is laughable. Wells could be at minimum average and at best an asset if he’d man up and accept corner outfield duty.

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