Fangraphs: Sunday Notes - Orioles Edition

[weams]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/sunday-notes-sniders-swing-starting-matusz-backstop-academia-grapefruit-nuggets/

Travis Snider is a breakout candidate. Sound familiar? He's owned the label for years, and maybe - just maybe - this will be the season he finally explodes. It?s not implausible. Somehow, Snider is still just 27 years old.

Skeptics will surely scoff at the idea, but the 2006 first-round pick feels ready to come into his own. Acquired by the Orioles in the off-season, the former Toronto and Pittsburgh outfielder is settling into his swing after nearly a decade of trying to reinvent the wheel.

"I think I've had about eight different swings in eight years," Snider told me on Friday. "In the last two years, I've been working toward recreating the same swing as much as possible."

"It's about trying to create a consistent swing through the zone that can cover pitches in different quadrants, and not just be a low-ball hitter, or an inside hitter, or an outside hitter. Understanding, and being able to adjust to, the way pitchers are attacking you is often more important than mechanics."

Mechanically, Snider said he's concentrating on allowing his hips to clear and his hands to flow through the zone. He cited Miguel Cabrera as a hitter who can generate torque with his lower half, thus allowing his top half to uncoil. Snider admits to sometimes falling into the habit of trying to use every muscle in his body instead of taking a smooth, effortless swing.

The left-handed slugger also owns up to having not always stayed on his legs. Surgery on the big toe of his back foot, following the 2013 season, helped him right his back side and recreate torque.

Circling back to what he said about eight swings in eight years, I asked how often the changes have been orchestrated by coaches, as opposed to of his own volition. He told me it's been "mix-and-match" and that getting sent down to Triple-A has a way of making a player question his process. Better usage of video ? "It gives me a visual key to help me solidify what I want to work on - is helping provide answers."

Not to be underestimated are the seeds of Snider's big-league progression. He debuted as a fresh-faced 20 year old, barely a month removed from having won the home run derby at the Eastern League All-Star Game. I was in attendance that night, and Snider was a man among boys, jettisoning baseballs vast distances. He reached Toronto with lofty expectations, but had a lot to learn.

"As a young kid, I was emotionally attached to the mechanics of my swing," admitted Snider. "My swing is what got me to the big leagues. But pitchers started to adjust to me, and there are so many things that go into being a good hitter, from mechanics to rhythm to timing. I've started to simplify all of that. I have checkpoints and keys I can go to. I consider myself a student of the game, and I'm constantly learning more about who I am as a hitter."

Snider finished strong last year, hitting .288/.356/.524 in the second half. He has nine hits in 32 at bats this spring.

---

Brian Matusz is reportedly being shopped by the Orioles, and the 28-year-old left-hander is unlikely to complain if his address changes. He hasn't said so publicly- at least that I'm aware of = but it's not hard to read between the lines.

Speculation is that a team acquiring Matusz would use him as a starter. That was his role as recently as 2012, and it's clearly what the former first-round pitch would prefer. Matusz pitched the first four innings of Friday's game against Boston, and when I asked him afterward if it's more fun to start than relieve, his response was, "Absolutely. No question."

Matusz has had success out of the pen, frequently as a lefty specialist. Same-sided batters have a .620 OPS against him in his career (versus .861 for right-handed hitters). David Ortiz has been especially bedeviled, going 3-for-24 with 13 punch outs.

Following Friday's game, Matusz used variations of "All I can control is what I can control," when addressing his status. He also said he mixed all four pitches and worked up and down, in and out. Those are a starter's words.

[Il BuonO]

Eight different swings in eight years makes for a lot of changes in a relatively short amount of time. I'm all for making adjustments when needed but that seems like too much.

[weams]

Eight different swings in eight years makes for a lot of changes in a relatively short amount of time. I'm all for making adjustments when needed but that seems like too much.

I really agree.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Eight different swings in eight years makes for a lot of changes in a relatively short amount of time. I'm all for making adjustments when needed but that seems like too much.

Cal was known for changing his stance quite frequently.

[video=youtube;EgcM8II7L4o]

[weams]

Cal was known for changing his stance quite frequently.

[video=youtube;EgcM8II7L4o]

His swings were pretty similar though. I think that the intellectuals in Toronto messed with Snider until the point that he really required help once he got to Pittsburgh. I guess it is that pressure of missing on a top pick that everyone thought would be an All Star. And then rushing him to the majors at age 20 to show how bright they were.

[Can_of_corn]

Cal was known for changing his stance quite frequently.

[video=youtube;EgcM8II7L4o]

So was Dempsey, how did it work out for him?

[BohKnowsBmore]

So was Dempsey, how did it work out for him?

If Snider ends up as a WS MVP I would be quite content

[Nevermore]

I remember being pleased when Snider came here in trade. If he breaks out this year, trading for Snider will be one of DD's most brilliant moves.

[Il BuonO]

Cal was also firmly established as a player when he made adjustments. And as weams notes, nothing major going on, I think it was more about his comfort level in the box.

[MrOrange82]

Cal was also firmly established as a player when he made adjustments. And as weams notes, nothing major going on, I think it was more about his comfort level in the box.

Yeah, if you ask Cal, his bat/body position changed a lot, but the way the bat moved through the zone was relatively constant. Mostly. Just a comfort thing with him.

[SteveA]

One of the gems occurred in 1976, in the infancy of free agency: California Angels general manager Harry Dalton outsmarted a long-since-changed regulation and turned Tim Nordbrook into Bobby Grich.

At the time, teams were only allowed to sign two free agents annually. There was an exception: You could sign as many free agents as you lost. The Angels – out of contention and in no particular need of his services – purchased Nordbrook, a utility infielder and free-agent-to-be, from the Orioles in early September. He became the third player on the roster whose contract would expire at the end of the season.

After initially inking Don Baylor and Joe Rudi to free-agent contracts, the Angels used the Nordbrook exception to sign Grich. One of the most underappreciated players in baseball history, Grich went on to play 10 seasons with the Angels.

Wow. Our former GM totally snookered us. Not to say we could have kept Grich if the Angels weren't allowed to sign him, probably someone else would have.

But I wonder if Hank Peters had any idea why Dalton was willing to pay cash for Nordbrook that year?

As someone who views the loss of Grich as right up there with losing Eddie as one of the most disappointing player departures in team history... this makes me mad. 39 years later.

[Il BuonO]

Wow. Our former GM totally snookered us. Not to say we could have kept Grich if the Angels weren't allowed to sign him, probably someone else would have.

But I wonder if Hank Peters had any idea why Dalton was willing to pay cash for Nordbrook that year?

As someone who views the loss of Grich as right up there with losing Eddie as one of the most disappointing player departures in team history... this makes me mad. 39 years later.

One of the most underappreciated players in baseball history....

Definitely this.

[CA-ORIOLE]

One of the most underappreciated players in baseball history....

Definitely this.

Grich was one of my favorite players. Hurt when we lost him. Never liked Dauer. Grich should be in the HOF.