Snyder looks to be our LT 1B solution

[Hank Scorpio]

Please go re-read the first post of this thread again. His defense has always been a concern to me.

Meh, not as much as his "lack of power." You loooooooves you some home runs.

You seemed to think his defense was good enough for 3rd base?

[JTrea81]

Meh, not as much as his "lack of power." You loooooooves you some home runs.

You seemed to think his defense was good enough for 3rd base?

Honestly from when I saw him in the HWBL feeds, he seemed most comfortable and played well there.

[JamesI]

Honestly from when I saw him in the HWBL feeds, he seemed most comfortable and played well there.

That would be a huge bonus to the Os if Snyder could handle third. It should be easier to find a good first baseman than a third baseman (not that the Os have been able to do so for a long time).

I am confused though. Almost always if a player can handle third, they can handle first. Do you think he could handle third and not handle first, or do you think he could be ok defensively, but offensivly his skills fit better as a third baseman?

[Lucky Jim]

Honestly from when I saw him in the HWBL feeds, he seemed most comfortable and played well there.

Have you ever come across any players good enough to play 3B who couldn't become adequate 1B?

[Hank Scorpio]

Honestly from when I saw him in the HWBL feeds, he seemed most comfortable and played well there.

I try to stick up for you as much I as I can, buddy... but I just can't understand how you can think he's incapable of being a good defensive third baseman but not a good defensive first baseman.

It just kinda feels to most of us like you're trying to stack the deck against the kid, but when you look at the minor league performance of many very good ML 1st basemen they're very similar to Snyder's. Checkout Gonzalez' rise to stardom.

Why could Adrian Gonzalez turn into who he is today, but Brandon Snyder can't?

[Moose Milligan]

Why could Adrian Gonzalez turn into who he is today, but Brandon Snyder can't?

Because I said so.

Hmmph.

[JTrea81]

I try to stick up for you as much I as I can, buddy... but I just can't understand how you can think he's incapable of being a good defensive third baseman but not a good defensive first baseman.

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

And our need for a third baseman, and Snyder's desire to play 3B, it just is strange the Orioles ruled it out.

1B is stronger than 3B throughout baseball as so many teams lack depth at 3B.

As for Gonzalez, he's always been a good defender at 1B. Snyder just doesn't seem to have the defensive skills to play there.

[Khaezh12]

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

It is much much harder to catch a line shot from a batter than it is a ball thrown to you from another teammate. If you can play 3B then you can play 1B, but the opposite is not always true.

[tywright]

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

And our need for a third baseman, and Snyder's desire to play 3B, it just is strange the Orioles ruled it out.

1B is stronger than 3B throughout baseball as so many teams lack depth at 3B.

As for Gonzalez, he's always been a good defender at 1B. Snyder just doesn't seem to have the defensive skills to play there.

Are you serious? Snyder is athletic enough to play 1B and with experience he will be above average, if not already.

[Shopay]

It is much much harder to catch a line shot from a batter than it is a ball thrown to you from another teammate. If you can play 3B then you can play 1B, but the opposite is not always true.

Exactly.

Trea, can you cite to any specific examples where a good pro player couldn't play first base but was successful at third? There may some I'm not aware of or can't remember, but as many have already pointed out, this move is typically from third to first, not the other way around.

[Hank Scorpio]

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

And our need for a third baseman, and Snyder's desire to play 3B, it just is strange the Orioles ruled it out.

1B is stronger than 3B throughout baseball as so many teams lack depth at 3B.

As for Gonzalez, he's always been a good defender at 1B. Snyder just doesn't seem to have the defensive skills to play there.

Sly, you were saying the same thing about his bat just 5 months ago.

I'm just saying, improvement is possible and even probable with young players. Walk me through your thought process as to why Snyder can't get better, because I don't understand it.

[Frobby]

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

And our need for a third baseman, and Snyder's desire to play 3B, it just is strange the Orioles ruled it out.

1B is stronger than 3B throughout baseball as so many teams lack depth at 3B.

As for Gonzalez, he's always been a good defender at 1B. Snyder just doesn't seem to have the defensive skills to play there.

First, I have the impression that you have not seen Snyder play yourself, or that if you have, it hasn't been recent. Second, you should be aware of this quote from Dave Stockstill, if you weren't already:

"I think he’s made a lot of improvement. He’s gotten his feet under control better, he’s slowed down his actions. As he was trying to learn how to play it last year and early this year he would get too quick, get too excited and he would jump at the ball sometimes and almost do the splits. He has gotten much more under control as he’s gotten more confident. He’s very, very good at picking balls out of the dirt. He has very good hands.

"Where he still needs to continue to work is to work with his feet and keep his feet under him and not get too quick but he’s made outstanding progress with it."

That's plus content from the Prospect Tracker but I think I'm within the rules to quote that much, out of a very long and outstanding interview of Stockstill by BowieMike. Anyone who isn't a plus member has no idea how much good stuff we get from Bowie Mike and Adam Vencill, among others.

[JTrea81]

First, I have the impression that you have not seen Snyder play yourself, or that if you have, it hasn't been recent. Second, you should be aware of this quote from Dave Stockstill, if you weren't already:

That's plus content from the Prospect Tracker but I think I'm within the rules to quote that much, out of a very long and outstanding interview of Stockstill by BowieMike. Anyone who isn't a plus member has no idea how much good stuff we get from Bowie Mike and Adam Vencill, among others.

I hadn't seen that, so maybe he's improving. The last report I heard from a publication made it seem he's still having issues at 1B defensively and the fact is he has still has made a lot of errors. Let me just put it this way: I'll be pleasantly surprised if he can stick at 1B defensively once he reaches MLB.

I've been surprised by his bat, so I am prepared to be surprised by his defense.

[QBsILLEST1]

It's his footwork and glovework around the bag. As a third baseman, you don't usually have to corrall throws by the SS or 2B man like you do at 1B, and that is Snyder's weakness. I'd at least give him time at 3B because he likes playing there and seems more comfortable at that position.

And our need for a third baseman, and Snyder's desire to play 3B, it just is strange the Orioles ruled it out.

1B is stronger than 3B throughout baseball as so many teams lack depth at 3B.

As for Gonzalez, he's always been a good defender at 1B. Snyder just doesn't seem to have the defensive skills to play there.

Have you ever played 3rd base and then 1st base? At 3B you are getting hard line drives all aroiund you that you have less than a second to react to to catch and try to make sure you are taking a good angle at the ball to put yourself in good enough position to throw the ball to first. And your still not off the hook until you make a good, accurate throw to the 1b.

1st base requires no throw usually to complete the out, so once the 1st baseman fields the ball, the play is basically over. Less room for error, you dont have to worry about angles as much when you arent making a throw, and if a batted ball pulls you so far off the bag, you have a pitcher to back you up on 1st base. And a lot of the errors I used to hear about Brandon making were throwing errors.....

3rd baser equires everything that 1st base requires, and then some, a whole lotta some......

[Hank Scorpio]

First, I have the impression that you have not seen Snyder play yourself, or that if you have, it hasn't been recent. Second, you should be aware of this quote from Dave Stockstill, if you weren't already:

That's plus content from the Prospect Tracker but I think I'm within the rules to quote that much, out of a very long and outstanding interview of Stockstill by BowieMike. Anyone who isn't a plus member has no idea how much good stuff we get from Bowie Mike and Adam Vencill, among others.

Quick, someone tell Goldstein / Sickels / Churchill / Manuel.

If he hears it from them, he might buy in.