Travis Snider in right field today....What would Nick have done?

[mdbdotcom]

Would Ken Singleton have caught it? I ask because he is just as much an Oriole today as Nick is.

[OFFNY]

Would Ken Singleton have caught it? I ask because he is just as much an Oriole today as Nick is.

I don't think so.

Singleton is 67 years-old now, and he doesn't get the same jump on a hard-hit ball as he did when he was in his prime.

[UpstateNYfan]

It certainly was a poorly played ball. Nick most likely would have caught it. From TV it seemed harder hit than it may have been in reality. I don't know. I find the scoring weird however, if he didn't hit it with his glove, it probably would have been called a hit. As unfortunate as it was, Tillman's lackluster performance was probably more to blame than Snider's play. It gets pretty boring watching your pitcher load the bases.

[El Gordo]

Well, we don't have a choice, do we? Until Lough returns, we are stuck with Snider or Pearce in RF.

Pearce would have caught it. In fact every OF on the team with the possible exception of Delman would have caught it. I am happy with Snider's bat I just would like to see it a little more at DH than RF.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Yeah, I agree with RZ. I'm going to need to see a little before deciding Snider is some horrid fielder.

[Nevermore]

I'm not sure of the benefits of constantly comparing Snider with Markakis.

[Guest gausman37]

I'm not sure of the benefits of constantly comparing Snider with Markakis.

Snider has been great so far too and I'm optimistic about him going forward. It's fine to miss Markakis but Snider doesn't need to be connected to him. The O's had no hand in losing Nick since Atlanta simply made an offer he couldn't refuse. Probably time to move on.

[atomic]

It's a natural. Just like Snider's 1.133 OPS and Markakis's .478 OPS. I called it after the signing. Nick doesn't make double digits home runs this year with that home park.

So you want Markakis to do badly so you can feel good about yourself. I see no logic in that line of thinking. I hope Markakis does great. I don't see the need to compare Snider and Markakis. Nick has had a lot of succes in the majors in his career. Snider not so much. It isn't fair to him to be compared to Nick. Let him be judged on his own merits.

[El Gordo]

That's just a crazy assertion. Every outfielder misjudges one every now and then. I've seen it happen to Adam Jones before. The toughest one is the line drive right at you.

I'm not saying Snider is a bad OF, I am saying he blew that play. It's a play most of our OF would make most of the time.

[Nevermore]

It's a natural. Just like Snider's 1.133 OPS and Markakis's .478 OPS. I called it after the signing. Nick doesn't make double digits home runs this year with that home park.

I realize that. But when these comparisons keep getting made to the extreme, it's not really helpful. Nick played in OPACY's right field for years. Snider is just getting used to it. Snider and Markakis may play the same position, but they are two different players.

[Emory Eagle]

Maybe Nick would have caught that ball. Would depend on his read and where he was playing. But he almost certainly wouldn't have homered to deep center left like Snider did. Too early to say what the costs/benefits are to the Os choice but let's not pile on Snider just because he's new.

[Frobby]

I've seen a lot worse plays from outfielders where no error is given. You almost never see an error charged on a ball like that. The ball was scorched. He took one step in and that was it. Not time to make up for that mistake. He should have caught it. I don't seem to think it makes as bad an outfielder as everyone else seems too.

I would love to find some video of Markakis misjudging a line drive like that. So far just a tweet from Roch, and OH! THIS! From Frobby, the biggest Markakis cheerleader on the Hangout.

A link would have been nice. That's from mid-2013, saying Nick played his worst defense in 2012 and was shaky at the beginning of 2013 but then got better right? That's how I remember it.

My post from yesterday is being misconstrued. I don't think Snider's defense can be judged based on one bad play. I said elsewhere that it would take me a considerable amount of time to judge how good or bad his defense is. I still feel that way. The only point of my post was to take the OP and turn it around. Frankly, I've pretty much moved on from wondering what Nick Markakis would have done, and I'm ready to focus on this year's team. So, I regret having made my post about Nick.

[FanAddict]

I agree with most of the posters saying it doesn't do any good to draw comparisons between Nick and Snider on an almost daily basis.

But so far, aside from the costly error, I like what I see from Snider in the field. He has better range than Nick and he's making a few tough plays. I won't judge him on that tough liner yesterday but I hope he never lets it happen again. Buck has high standards and I just hope Snider isn't relegated to DHing every other game for the next week because of this. I think Snider will be fine in RF.

[ShaneDawg85]

Snider shouldn't be compared to Markakis, just the same as Markakis shouldn't be compared to Snider. However, considering people in the sections around us yesterday immediately yelled Markakis would have had the ball (debatable for some, not so for others), the reality is it's going to keep happening all year long.

[Roll Tide]

Snider shouldn't be compared to Markakis, just the same as Markakis shouldn't be compared to Snider. However, considering people in the sections around us yesterday immediately yelled Markakis would have had the ball (debatable for some, not so for others), the reality is it's going to keep happening all year long.

Agreed ....Markakis is the past. And while he was a solid player he was grossly overpaid for his production.