Travis Snider. Again.

I will not dub Travis Snider a AAAA player. I just can't do it. Currently, he's the Jays best option for LF, and possibly even CF. Tell me if you've heard this one before, but Travis Snider's pummelling AAA pitching:

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
2012	24	Las Vegas	PCL	AAA	TOR	8	39	35	8	15	4	0	3	15	0	1	4	5	.429	.487	.800	1.287	28	1	0	0	0	0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 4/15/2012.

So Uh. Snider went 4-for-5 on Friday with a double and a grand-slam. Pretty okay.

As long as Snider can right the ship and not look awful against fastballs, he'll be fine. I have trouble attributing Snider's inconsistency and ineffectiveness against fastballs over the past two years to anything except a lingering injury. I understand his problems with sliders, but there's no reason why he should look so foolish against the high heat.

The Travis Snider Situation

It's hard not to feel bad for Travis Snider. The former top-prospect was in retrospect terribly mishandled by the Blue Jays organization. After being rushed to the show in 2008, Snider's spent the majority of his career bouncing between levels and battling injuries. Any promises of job-security were quickly nullified by Cito's itchy trigger finger and nagging injuries.

Last year, Snider was plagued by inconsistency and wrist tendinitis. Whatever is to blame, Snider's 2011 triple-slash of .225/.269/.348 was horrific. Typically a fastball hitter, Snider looked foolish on the high cheddar (-1.67 wFB/C) in addition to his troubles with off speed stuff. His batted ball profile (16% LD & 1.27 GB/FB) looked more like that of a slap hitter than a slugger, especially when you consider the free fall in his HR/FB Rate. For the first time in his career, Snider posted an In-Field Fly Ball Rate (14.3%) greater than his HR/FB Rate (6.1%). Yet, Snider continued to mash in hitter-friendly Las Vegas. So, the logical question arose: Is Travis Snider simply plagued by bad fortune or is he destined to become the prototypical AAAA player?


Considering that Snider just recently turned twenty-four, it's hard to imagine dubbing him a quad-A player quite this soon, but he's already accumulated almost 900 big league plate appearances. Spring should give us a glimpse into Snider's future, but three strike-out games like today shouldn't completely sway our opinion. Snider will, without a doubt, strike-out around a quarter of the time. What's in question is what Lunchbox Hero will accomplish when he makes contact. If Snider continues to pound the ball into the ground or sky it towards second base, there's a very good chance that Eric Thames will be Toronto's starting left fielder. If, however, Snider regains his ability to drive balls into the gaps and over the fence, it'll be hard to sit him against all but the upper echelon of lefties.

Both Snider and Thames showed rather lackluster plate discipline, but somewhat surprisingly Snider's seen his Swinging Strike Rate decrease each year he's been in the big leagues while his overall swing and contact rates have seen a gradual increase.

While watching the games tells me that Snider's had his fair share of bad misses, his discipline seems to indicate that he's just barely missing when he does make contact. Snider's youth and current health lead me to believe that he's not that far from putting it all together, but there's a part of me that believes that a slow start could lead to his demise in Toronto. Snider's entered the previous seasons on a short leash, but with Eric Thames currently pushing for (and probably winning) the left field job, the concept of a leash is all but non-existent.

NB: Baseball Analytics' David Golebiewski Posted A Great Article On Snider And Outside Pitches.

The Big League Club: Outfield

Apparently consecutive forty-plus home run seasons is enough to garner international attention and cement Jose Bautista as Toronto's starting right fielder. Bautista remains true to his working class roots, though. He still puts his pants on one leg at a time, shills Canadian not American products, and hides his spontaneous erections with the closest possible suitable object whilst acting utterly oblivious just like the rest of us. Even with a solid dose of regression, it's safe to pencil Bautista in for a .275/.400/.550 triple-slash line in 2012. 

After Bautista, there's a good dose of uncertainty, but youth should be well served. Toronto boasts two former top-prospects in Colby Rasmus and Travis Snider. It certainly seems like Rasmus and Snider have been around for years, but they're still just 25 and 24 years old, respectively. In context, Eric Thames debuted just last year and is roughly the same age as the aforementioned duo. By all accounts, the battle for the starting left-field gig is an open competition between Snider and Thames.

Despite down-years in 2011, it's probably a safe bet to assume that either Ben Francisco or Rajai Davis will muster up close to a one-win season in 2012. Francisco provides a decent amount of pop and Davis gives Farrell the ability to inject speed into the line-up at any given moment. Davis' ability to hit lefties at a career mark of .292/.350/.411 combined with Thames' and Snider's struggles against southpaws should afford Rajai quality playing time (even if those southpaws tend to be of the Sabathia, Lester, Price, Moore, and Britton variety). 

Mike McCoy also exists.