Snyder on his struggles at Norfolk
It was a bit of a mystery from the Orioles minor leagues during the 2009 season.
How could Brandon Snyder hit so well at Double-A Bowie and go on to struggle when promoted to Triple-A Norfolk on June 19th?
The O's first-round pick from 2005 hit .343-10-45 in 58 games with Bowie; but with the Tides in 73 games, he batted just .248-2-43 and fanned 64 times in 262 at bats.
Snyder said he just never got his bat going in the pitcher-friendly ballpark at Norfolk and never got going at the plate.
Now, he's hitting quite well during play in the Arizona Fall League, hitting two homers with 7 RBI in a game on Wednesday.
In a phone conversation earlier this week , Snyder discussed his struggles at the plate this year at Triple-A.
"Both homers I hit (Wednesday), I hit to center field, and both would have been caught in Norfolk, maybe not even hit to the track. I hit those balls very well, but it's the ballpark.
"Hitting to center and right center is my gap power and Norfolk's park killed me. I won't say I didn't struggle here and there but I went from Bowie to Norfolk and kept hitting line drives, kept hitting balls well that I thought would carry for at least doubles. Once the hits stopped, I tried to change.
"That was something I shouldn't have done. I should have kept the same approach, whether I hit a buck fifty or .250 or .300. I should not have changed what I was doing. It took me a few weeks before I came here to get that back. I was completely screwed up, thinking 'I need to slap the ball around the field' since I couldn't hit it out of there (Norfolk).
"It was a big learning lesson. I needed to stay with my game plan and hopefully it leads me to Baltimore someday."
So as Snyder's numbers declined, he pressed a bit to get it back and never really did. His timing was out of whack at the bat.
"Exactly. From what I was doing in Bowie, it doesn't just--overnight because of the league change when I went to Norfolk--I probably hit ten to 15 balls there that would be homers in any other park. Instead of looking at a 20 to 25 homer year, hitting around .280, those balls were caught, not even doubles because the ball hangs up. It's just a miserable hitting park, plain and simple.
"For someone whose power is up the middle and in the gaps, I don't hit the ball down the line much, I hit it in the gaps. For me it just wore me out. Like I said it's a learning process. Now I understand you can't change because of the ballpark."
Snyder's average by month at Norfolk:
June: .227
July: .260
August: .250
September: .231
In 131 games between Bowie and Norfolk this season, Snyder hit .289 with 12 homers and 88 RBI. He was tied for second among all O's minor leaguers in homers behind Brandon Waring, as well as second in RBI to Waring.
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Categories (click for archive)Orioles News | Steve Melewski |
It is absolutely NOT a gap hitters park. Hitting down the lines helped Nolan and Oscar, but for a gap hitter as Snyder mentioned it is miserable down here at Harbor Park. Nice park to watch a game though!
Seems like he's got to be able to adjust to different parks, though. I'm sure there are parks in the ML that are like Nolfolk's. And plenty of parks that reward players who hit down the line. I haven't a clue, though, how he would make that adjustment. Seems like someone with the O's should know, though.
didn't seem to make much of a difference to lou montanez, nolan reimold or matt wieters playing at bowie or norfolk. guess brandon needs to have a good couple of months at norfolk which would include hitting for a decent ave. hitting for power and playing well defensively to be considered making it to baltimore. i know he's young but he has been a professional baseball player for a few years now. didn't he watch bull durham and learn how to talk to the media. stop with the excuses and produce. let your playing do your talking for you. right now it's nothing but excuses.
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He is a different style hitter than those guys, when you see him in the Majors you'll see what he means about gap to gap power and that going to right center is his strength. He is very good with the media and admitted his struggles had him a little "screwed up." I think he was just being honest. He'll bounce back from his Triple-A struggles and clearly already is. - Steve
Steve, Do you see the Orioles using the AFL to greatly accelerate Snyder's progress to the big club or just something they feel will help him work some of kinks out? He did play 131 games already in the minors during the regular season, so it's a bit surprising to see them stretching out his season this way.
Although he talks here about the configuration of Norfolk's outfield as not being conducive to his gap hitting, which certainly seems to be the case, nevertheless, the 64 Ks in 262 ABs is a problem he'll to correct, because pitching is only going to get tougher in the AL East.
If his Bowie numbers are a better gauge of what to expect from him, then the O's could have another Reimold type hitter in the making. However, Aubrey did nothing to hurt his chances in his late season stint with the Birds, capping things off with a memorable final series against Toronto, in which he had the big two homer (one a grand slam), six RBI opening game, a hit and run scored in the next one and the game-winning run in the season finale.
Logically, Aubrey should be ahead of Snyder on the organizational depth chart, if for no other reasons than that he'll turn 28 in April, so he's entering the prime years, and that he's already had success against big league pitching (mostly AL East opponents, by the way). The one thing favoring Snyder, I'd think, is that Aubrey seems to be a better hitter against righties, while the O's really need more help hitting southpaws (a real weakness of the team in recent years). Of course, they could always platoon him with Wigginton if they can't find a big bat free agent (personally, I'd just as soon the team focus this offseason in veteran pitching, which is where the team is really lacking; two or three solid additions in that department with that the team already have and the power potential of bats like Jones, Markakis, Reimold and Wieters could render the "sign a big bat" issue moot IMHO).
Lastly, I wanted to get your take on Game 5 of the ALCS, Steve. As you know, I picked the Yankees to win it and still expect that to happen, probably tonight, but I wanted to see if you saw that game the way I did or, more specifically, Lackey in that game. He pitched absolutely brilliantly and I think in the 7th Scoscia should have left him in when Lackey emphatically yelled "This is mine!" Now, I know Scoscia had to make the change once he crossed the foul line, as it was the second trip to the mound that inning, but should he ever even come out of the dugout in the first place?
Now, Scoscia's one of the best managers in the game but this was a horrible decision. It was 4-0 with two outs, so the worst that could happen was for Teixeira to tie the game with a slam. If it was 4-1 Scoscia would have a little more justification (even then, though, it still involves taking out the Angel's best pitcher, a big game pitcher who had only thrown 104 pitches, had pitched his way out of jams before in the game and for the most part, was flat-out dominant, at times looking like he was toying with New York's might lineup.
Anytime a manager goes to the bullpen when a starter's been dominant it's a calculated risk, because he never knows how the reliever is going to be. Fortunately for the Angels, the Yankees' 'pen was also off its game.
But back to Lackey. I really liked the competitiveness he showed when Scoscia came to get him, and unlike similar situations where a pitcher may put on a mask of false bravado, it definitely seemed real with Lackey and I thought he could have pitched through it.
I really felt for the guy when the bullpen caved in, allowing the Yanks first to tie, then take the lead. In such an important game he had pitched his heart out and had nothing to show for it. Even though I'm for New York (it's AL East loyalty more than anything else--just as I normally root for whatever AL team is in the World Series), I was actually relieved in a way that the Angels were able to rally back, making the no decision a little easier to take for Lackey (he's sure look good in black and orange, but I'm not getting up any false hopes; I'd be surprised if MacPhail didn't at least contact him to see if he'd be open to playing in Baltimore--what an add to the rotation he'd be!).
As I said earlier, I fully expect New York to avoid a collapse like in 2004 against Boston. Pettitte is known as a big game pitcher and I expect him to live up to that reputation tonight. I'm sure the Phillies would like to see Los Angeles push the series to Game 7, then fall to the Yankees, which means they'd miss either Sabathia or Lackey as starter in Game 1 of the World Series.
Playing Game 6 at home with Pettitte on the mound should push some of the momentum back New York's way, but if the Angels can find a way to get to him early, they definitely can make things interesting. There's certainly truth in what Ian O’Connor of the Hackensack NJ Record said when he wrote:
"The Yankees could be in serious trouble now. There are almost 30 teams in major league baseball the Yanks wouldn’t mind granting a second sudden-death life.
"The Angels aren’t one of them."
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/other_mlb/view.bg?&articleid=1206791&format=&page=1&listingType=mlb#articleFull
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Snyder was sent to AFL to get more at bats vs. quality pitching and continue to gain experience because he might be part of a competiton for the 1B job in March.
If you want to be a regular in the ML's you need to learn to play more than 131 games, especially when you have had a few weeks off.
I didn't see much of that game, but have heard several commentaters also that felt Lackey should have stayed in that game. A tiring starter is always a tough call for any manager, expecially with your entire season reading on the outcome.
Steve
Steve,
I was wondering where you would put the talent level in the AFL? Is it like AA, AAA, better, worse? Its kind of hard to tell because I don't really know what players are there, and to be honest, I don't know the minor league players as well as I should.
Synder reminds me a little of Jason Worth(sp?) Both drafted as catchers and then moved. They seem like simalar hitters. What do you think about that?
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I have asked people that question and it is hard to say, maybe somewhere between AA and AAA is a guess. It has prospects from all levels, A, AA and AAA and even has had players with MLB experience.
I don't know about Werth, but Snyder is a real gap to gap hitter as they say with excellent power to center and right center.
Steve
"A tiring starter is always a tough call for any manager, especially with your entire season reading on the outcome."
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Very true.
Is Snyder Switch hitter? - Right handed hitter only. Steve