Travis Snider: Blue Jays’ Prospect Making Impact

April 14, 2009

By Chris Gilmore…

Travis Snider, proving us MiLB guys right: 2-3 2 HR 3 RBI 1 BB 1 SB

There are very few certainties in the world of prospect projection.  One of the more recent certainties was that Travis “Lunch Box” Snider would hit a ton when his time in major league baseball finally got here.

Last night, Snider turned in a wonderful offensive show with 2 home runs, with the second one breaking the tie and registering the game winning run.   His solo homer in the fifth off of Kevin Slowey was a massive shot off of the facade in the upper deck.

With offensive performances like this, you wonder how long they can have him hitting so late in the order.  His bat probably deserves a spot in the middle of the Blue Jay lineup.  If Adam Lind continues his production, and Scott Rolen stays healthy, this could be a 4 team race in the AL East.

Now comes the time when pitchers start taking a deeper look at Snider, in an attempt to find a weakness.  His minor league stats suggest that he hits left handed and right handed pitching equally well.  His career minor league splits were LHP: .289/.341/.488; RHP: .306/.389/.536.   Snider is a complete hitter, pitchers will be hard pressed to make an adjustment that he can’t counter.