Bell got Snydered today!

[wildcard]

Josh Bell hit a home run, a double and drove in 3 runs today in the AFL.

Not to be out done Brandon Snyder hit two home runs, a double, drove in 7 and just for good measure stole a base. :wedge:

I think these two should compete with each other everyday.

[markpolis]

Josh Bell hit a home run, a double and drove in 3 runs today in the AFL.

Not to be out done Brandon Snyder hit two home runs, a double, drove in 7 and just for good measure stole a base. :wedge:

I think these two should compete with each other everyday.

WOW! That's awesome. Hopefully these two can be our corners of the future.

[RVAbird]

Again, at this point in their careers, with their track records, we should expect both Bell and Snyder to have success in the AFL.

However, you've got to be encouraged with the overall progress these two have made over the last couple of years. They can flat out hit.

I am loving the power stroke for Snyder. It's not the big leagues, but he's showing he can go deep. Hopefully that translates to the IL and eventually the AL next year.

Can anyone confirm whether Bell has been facing lefties from the right or left side of the plate? In a super, super small sample size he's gone 5-7 against them with a couple of doubles and a walk.

[Greg Pappas]

Josh Bell hit a home run, a double and drove in 3 runs today in the AFL.

Not to be out done Brandon Snyder hit two home runs, a double, drove in 7 and just for good measure stole a base. :wedge:

I think these two should compete with each other everyday.

It's good to see them both playing so well. I really look forward to seeing them this coming spring & forward.

[Os_Watcher]

Josh Bell hit a home run, a double and drove in 3 runs today in the AFL.

Not to be out done Brandon Snyder hit two home runs, a double, drove in 7 and just for good measure stole a base. :wedge:

I think these two should compete with each other everyday.

Cool, but who was pitching to them?

[wildcard]

Cool, but who was pitching to them?

I think his name was Sabathia, but I am not sure. Don't quote me on that.

[Greg Pappas]

Nice to see Bell go two-for-two off of a lefty.

[Frobby]

By the way, Snyder has had at least one hit in every game he has played, and at least two hits in every game but one.

I am a huge Snyder fan, and I've followed him almost daily since he tore up the Hawaiian Winter League two years ago. His struggles at Norfolk really shocked me, because he's been tremendous in the HWL, the Carolina League, the AFL last fall, and the Eastern League. His torrid start in the AFL this year is going a long way towards convincing me that the AAA performance was just a fluky thing, and that we need to take him VERY seriously as a candidate to spend most of 2010 in the majors (though I'd start him at Norfolk for contract reasons no matter what). The guy can flat out hit, and there's enough power there for him to stick at 1B even though he'll never be a top HR guy.

[Singleton]

Again, at this point in their careers, with their track records, we should expect both Bell and Snyder to have success in the AFL.

However, you've got to be encouraged with the overall progress these two have made over the last couple of years. They can flat out hit.

I am loving the power stroke for Snyder. It's not the big leagues, but he's showing he can go deep. Hopefully that translates to the IL and eventually the AL next year.

Can anyone confirm whether Bell has been facing lefties from the right or left side of the plate? In a super, super small sample size he's gone 5-7 against them with a couple of doubles and a walk.

Not to be negative but I think your first sentence describes exactly why we shouldn't get overly excited about their hitting in the AFL. It's nice. It's obviously better to hit than to not hit but it doesn't do much to answer the questions about each player. Personally, I'm more upbeat about Bell and have the same questions everyone else does about Snyder -- does he have enough power to be an above average player at first in the big leagues and this AFL performance doesn't sway me much.

I'm rooting for both. Just not ready to put their name on a locker at OPACY.

[GoldGlove21]

Not to be negative but I think your first sentence describes exactly why we shouldn't get overly excited about their hitting in the AFL. It's nice. It's obviously better to hit than to not hit but it doesn't do much to answer the questions about each player. Personally, I'm more upbeat about Bell and have the same questions everyone else does about Snyder -- does he have enough power to be an above average player at first in the big leagues and this AFL performance doesn't sway me much.

I'm rooting for both. Just not ready to put their name on a locker at OPACY.

I hate all the above average talk when it comes to every player we have in the organization. If Snyder ends up a league average first baseman then the dude is not a bust. Huff was a league average first baseman for most of his career and we paid him $8 Million a season. The average players in the league that are solid will have roles for any team in the league. If Snyder can hit .285 while belting 25 homeruns and 35+ doubles he will be fine as long as he glove plays at first. 25 homeruns would have led the Orioles last year as well.

Same goes for guys who transition to the bullpen after being held in high regard as starters. I still think thet Hernandez, Erbe, Arrieta, and Steve Johnson end up relievers with Arrieta being one of the better closers in baseball. If the Orioles have the pitchers mentioned above as well as Matusz, Tillman, Britton, Bergesen, Bell, Snyder, and Mickolio performing at the big league level in 2010 then kudos to the Orioles scouting and development staff for doing a terrific job.

[Arthur_Bryant]

A lot of hitters are off to great starts but what Bell and Snyder are doing so far is impressive nonetheless. The Orioles publicly (AM) have seemed unconcerned about Snyder's struggles at Norfolk. The decline from Bowie to Norfolk was so drastic that I thought maybe a nagging type of injury was partly responsible. I do remember him missing a few games at Bowie due to some back problems, IIRC. It still doesn't add up to me that his numbers nosedived as much as they did.

The raw numbers don't tell the whole story. This has been discussed in two or three recent threads. Short explanation, he was very lucky in Bowie and very unlucky in Norfolk, where 27 p.c. of his batted balls were line drives. Even if he had stayed in Bowie he was due for a significant regression. Throw in the park effects in Norfolk (reports that several potential HRs to RF were blown into long outs), and the difference between Bowie and Norfolk is much smaller than it seems.

[Singleton]

I hate all the above average talk when it comes to every player we have in the organization. If Snyder ends up a league average first baseman then the dude is not a bust. Huff was a league average first baseman for most of his career and we paid him $8 Million a season. The average players in the league that are solid will have roles for any team in the league. If Snyder can hit .285 while belting 25 homeruns and 35+ doubles he will be fine as long as he glove plays at first. 25 homeruns would have led the Orioles last year as well.

Same goes for guys who transition to the bullpen after being held in high regard as starters. I still think thet Hernandez, Erbe, Arrieta, and Steve Johnson end up relievers with Arrieta being one of the better closers in baseball. If the Orioles have the pitchers mentioned above as well as Matusz, Tillman, Britton, Bergesen, Bell, Snyder, and Mickolio performing at the big league level in 2010 then kudos to the Orioles scouting and development staff for doing a terrific job.

You hate people looking for above average talent. Odd. I hate it when people are overly defensive about our players. I never used the word "bust." I just asked if he would be above average. People are starting to gush a bit because he's hit a few homers in a league that typically doesn't send top pitchers and those that go are on very strict pitch counts. My point is that it doesn't mean much.

BTW: I'd be thrilled if he could hit .280 with 25 dingers and 35 doubles. I hope he can but I'm far from certain.

[GoldGlove21]

You hate people looking for above average talent. Odd. I hate it when people are overly defensive about our players. I never used the word "bust." I just asked if he would be above average. People are starting to gush a bit because he's hit a few homers in a league that typically doesn't send top pitchers and those that go are on very strict pitch counts. My point is that it doesn't mean much.

BTW: I'd be thrilled if he could hit .280 with 25 dingers and 35 doubles. I hope he can but I'm far from certain.

People are gushing about Snyder and Bell because both guys have the potential to make a top-100 list next year. Our players are not just guys that we covet anymore, they are guys that other teams are paying attention too and if we were to deal for a first baseman Snyder would likely be the second player a team would require in the package behind one of our better young starters (Britton/Arrieta/Erbe). I think that says a lot about his ability and it is ok to gush about a guy that has tore up every level he has been at minus his half year at AAA this past year. Let's not forget that Wieters wasn't lighting AAA on fire for a while there either.

Getting excited over Bell and Snyder makes sense because those guys can help the club and are better than what we had in 2009. Both guys could be average and still help this team be better than the 2009 Orioles. They could help without costing us a fortune in prospects and money. When BA is putting Snyder on their "Who's Hot" sheet it is time to take notice of his abilities.

[GoldGlove21]

You hate people looking for above average talent. Odd. I hate it when people are overly defensive about our players. I never used the word "bust." I just asked if he would be above average. People are starting to gush a bit because he's hit a few homers in a league that typically doesn't send top pitchers and those that go are on very strict pitch counts. My point is that it doesn't mean much.

BTW: I'd be thrilled if he could hit .280 with 25 dingers and 35 doubles. I hope he can but I'm far from certain.

I am not sure that Aubrey Huff could hit 25+ bombs and 35 doubles ever again. There is always uncertainty in baseball, it is what makes the game great. Guys that are locks for great offensive seasons are worth a ton on the free agent market. Even if Snyder hir .270 with 20 bombs and 30 doubles wouldn't he still be a valuable asset. It seems like Snyder gets a lot of extra base hits. I wonder what his AB/XBH ratio looks like.

In 1786 AB's he has 180 XBH's. His line is .283/.346/.422 with a .788 OPS. That means that he has had an extra base hit in one of every 10 at bats. Thinking that he could be a 15-20 homerun guy with 30 doubles is not far fectched. As he continues to learn some of those doubles should turn into homeruns. I see him as a 20/35 guys in the future.

[crowmst3k!]