More evidence that Snyder's problem is Harbor Park

[wildcard]

I have been saying for a while now the Brandon Snyder's major problem with hit is that the spaciousness of Harbor Park has got into his head. Now there is more evidence of this from a scout in a Sun article.

Snyder is trying to pull everything because leftfield and center are where fly balls go to die in Harbor Park. Snyder's attempts to adjust has messed up his swing.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2010/06/scouts_talk_about_brandon_snyd.html

There is a fix for this. Send him to Bowie to get his swing straighten out and then when he is hitting well bring him up to the O's. Camden Yards is familiar in many ways to the park in Bowie. What do the O's have to lose at this point. Snyder will be a non prospect if he stays at Harbor Park.

[hoosiers]

I'd rather see him in Baltimore for a couple of weeks than Bowie.

[wildcard]

I'd rather see him in Baltimore for a couple of weeks than Bowie.

I don't want to see him in Baltimore until his swing is back to where it was in Bowie, or the AFL, or in Spring Training. Bringing him to the O's without fixing his swing will not be good for him IMO.

[Frobby]

Snyder himself has made some comments recently that suggest he recognized a flaw he had picked up this year and has now corrected it. So, I'd leave him in Norfolk and see what happens. If his game picks up a bit for the next 1-2 months, I wouldn't mind getting him up here. We don't have much to lose.

[Stotle]

I have been saying for a while now the Brandon Snyder's major problem with hit is that the spaciousness of Harbor Park has got into his head. Now there is more evidence of this from a scout in a Sun article.

Snyder is trying to pull everything because leftfield and center are where fly balls go to die in Harbor Park. Snyder's attempts to adjust has messed up his swing.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2010/06/scouts_talk_about_brandon_snyd.html

There is a fix for this. Send him to Bowie to get his swing straighten out and then when he is hitting well bring him up to the O's. Camden Yards is familiar in many ways to the park in Bowie. What do the O's have to lose at this point. Snyder will be a non prospect if he stays at Harbor Park.

Good thing he's not in the Padres system. I guess they'd have to just throw their hands up in the air and say, "What can we do? It's a pitcher-friendly park?"

[RVAbird]

I'm not buying it. He himself has used this excuse on more than one occasion, and when he seemed to heat up a bit we figured he'd learned to go back to what made him successful in the first place. He hasn't been able to sustain that. I don't doubt that Harbor Park has suppressed his numbers to a certain extant (as it has with all of our offensive prospects and the opposite for pitchers) but, if he needs to be in a good hitter's environment to be successful, it doesn't bode well for his chances at ML success.

I'd much prefer keeping him with the Tides and seeing if he can figure it out. What good does it do to send him down to a league he's already dominated or bring him up for a challenge he's not ready for?

[wildcard]

Good thing he's not in the Padres system. I guess they'd have to just throw their hands up in the air and say, "What can we do? It's a pitcher-friendly park?"

True, I would not think that Snyder is a player the Padres would try to acquire in a deal.

[wildcard]

I'm not buying it. He himself has used this excuse on more than one occasion, and when he seemed to heat up a bit we figured he'd learned to go back to what made him successful in the first place. He hasn't been able to sustain that. I don't doubt that Harbor Park has suppressed his numbers to a certain extant (as it has with all of our offensive prospects and the opposite for pitchers) but, if he needs to be in a good hitter's environment to be successful, it doesn't bode well for his chances at ML success.

I'd much prefer keeping him with the Tides and seeing if he can figure it out. What good does it do to send him down to a league he's already dominated or bring him up for a challenge he's not ready for?

Some guys can't hit the curve. Some can not catch up to a major league fastball. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Snyder can't hit in Harbor Park. I say get him out of there.

[Mizerooskie]

I'd buy into it a bit more if he didn't have a 3.5 K/BB rate.

[Sports Guy]

I'd buy into it a bit more if he didn't have a 3.5 K/BB rate.

Bingo!

Maybe this is a case of a guy that just doesn't have the plate discipline to be that good.

This is also a guy with a 306 BABIP..A LD% of 23.8%.

He is hitting a lot of groundballs.

If you neutralize his stats for his park, his OPS is higher but its still just 655.

[ScottieBaseball]

I have been saying for a while now the Brandon Snyder's major problem with hit is that the spaciousness of Harbor Park has got into his head. Now there is more evidence of this from a scout in a Sun article.

Snyder is trying to pull everything because leftfield and center are where fly balls go to die in Harbor Park. Snyder's attempts to adjust has messed up his swing.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/2010/06/scouts_talk_about_brandon_snyd.html

There is a fix for this. Send him to Bowie to get his swing straighten out and then when he is hitting well bring him up to the O's. Camden Yards is familiar in many ways to the park in Bowie. What do the O's have to lose at this point. Snyder will be a non prospect if he stays at Harbor Park.

Even Snyder told me it has nothing to do with Harbor Park. It's all mental.

[wildcard]

Even Snyder told me it has nothing to do with Harbor Park. It's all mental.

It certainly seems mental. And this scout seems to think that there are mechanical adjusts that need to be made.

It appears that what worked for Snyder at Bowie does not work in the larger park in Norfolk. Snyder realized this and started making adjustment to pull the ball more. That has not helped and may have made matter worse.

Whether Snyder wants to admit it or not, it certainly appears that his efforts to adjust to Harbor Park has messed him up. That is why I think going back to Bowie and getting his stroke back to where is was would help him.

[AlbNYfan]

See the ball, hit the ball. Some give these guys way too much credit for adjustments...due they adjust in every park? Wind direction? For each pitcher??? Different lighting conditions?? Too many variables. He is just not hitting presently. If you go to bat thinking too much you are in trouble.

[DrungoHazewood]

The park may be contributing to his problems, but if a .85 park factor causes a guy to lose half of his offensive value he's not a prospect. Just as Trea's mad ramblings about the inevitable implosion of any flyball-ish pitcher in OPACY, this has little or no merit. Good players are good players no matter what park. This isn't Griffith Stadium, 402 down the LF line and a 40-ft wall in right.

I'd leave him in Norfolk until he figures it out (within reason). Hopefully he's gotten over this mental hump, and he's back on track.

[Frobby]

Just want to quote what Snyder himself said recently:

"There was no excuse. I just wasn't performing. I let a lot of stuff from last year get to me, like the field, stuff I have no control over, I let bother me. I took that into my at bats.

"Plus, I got a little too pull happy. Normally I'm a guy that drives the ball the other way well. I did some things in spring training and tried to pull the ball more and it didn't work for me. It's taken a while to get off of that."

He is batting just .217-2-19 in 42 games on the year with 41 strikeouts in 143 at bats. But at least now he feels confident his numbers are about to start trending upward.

"I could have easily had three hits each in the last few games. I've hit some balls at people and that's frustrating. But I try to look at quality at bats rather than the hits. I am trying to focus on quality at bats."

While he struggled earlier in Norfolk, so did O's hitters, especially first baseman in Baltimore. He couldn't help but think if he had gotten off to a fast start, he might be in the O's lineup now.

"Going out of spring I was confident and ready to go. I understand what is going on up there. I'm happy to see guys called up but also understand that's a job that could have been mine.

"You can take it two ways. Either let it bother you and sulk about it or keep working harder to try and get your own shot. I can't wish it to happen, I have to keep working and get this thing turned (around)."

Snyder said roving hitting instructors Mike Bordick and Denny Walling have been helpful, especially with the mental part of the game.

He also said teammate Jeff Salazar, who has played in the Majors with Colorado, Arizona and Pittsburgh, has taken time to help as well.

"He pulled me aside the other day and helped me with a few things. It's little things. There was a day where we were in the cage early one day and we ran some things by each other. It helped a lot.

"He's been everywhere and back and he knows the game and what he is talking about. That helped."

http://masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2010/05/checking-in-with-brandon-snyder.html