TRAVIS SNIDER...THE TRUTH ABOUT HIM

Ive been cruising this site for about 6 months now and am writing this post to put 2 rest some of the untruths about Travis Snider. I keep seeing people speak on parts of his game that are just not true and apperantly getting very bad info. Let me start by giving some backround on why the info im about to give is accurate. I live in Lansing, Mi and go to lugnut games all the time. In 2007 when Snider played at Lansing for the Lugnuts i saw him play 20+ times in person, probly closer to 30. Ive watched clips of him in the minors last year and saw 5-6 of his ML games. Ive been down on the field at Lugnut park and watch him up close take batting practice and work out.

 These are common myths I see repeatly on this site:

A)He is unathletic...While he isnt Jason Heyward athletic he is athletic and agile for someone who is 245 pounds. He played runningback in HS and ive seen him work in the OF and on the base paths and see nothing that leads me to believe the guy is unathletic. And i have never seen a scouting report from a reputable source that says he is not athletic. BA said "he is more athletic than he looks"

B)He is a defensive liability...This simply is not true. While he wont win gold gloves, seeing him in person he takes good routes and makes all the nessary plays and even some spectacular ones. Both in the MWL and in the ML i seen him make some highlight reel catches. He has a good arm leading the MWL in Of assists w/ 16. BA scouting report states "he has improved his reads and routes enough to at least project as a average corner Of" I believe after seeing him he will be at least a solid average defender but probly more like slighlty above average defender. Now rember I am basing this off seeing him actually play, not just off what I read.

C) He will never hit for a high average.....Yeah, yeah i know i know he strikes out too much. Watching him at the plate it is easy to see for the average fan that he has a plan when he comes up to the plate and knows exactly what he is trying to do. Coming into the MWL i thought he was probly overated but after watching him he definatley knows how to hit and what he is trying to accomplish in each AB. The guys head stays still and keeps his eye on the ball better then anyone ive ever seen thats come through the MWL. He drew raves from people who seen him play for his mature approach. BA writes "Snider Is extremly advanced for a young hitter. He has a quick, powerfull swing from the left side and can handle southpaws and offspeed pitches. He has the bat speed and strength to hit for average and power" A scout i was able to talk to at a game told me he believed Snider would be an elite hitter for a long time. An independent scout i talked to told me that he was the steal of the 2006 draft. Saying further he had Snider as easily the 3rd best player in the draft behind only Longoria and Kershaw. And rember people he was ONLY 20 while rocketing through 3 levelsn (A+, AA, AAA) to reach the majors.

 Yes i know he strikes out a lot right now. But seeing him from the begining of the year in the MWL to the end his Pd discipline improved greatly. As far as the K's go he is only gonna be 21 when spring training starts and will improve his PD, but yes ur gonna always have 100+ k's from him. I believe though that being advanced so aggresivly led to the very high K rate but that he will catch up with the pitching and improve that. With the production he will give you it will be easy to live with. I can easily see him putting up 280 30+ 100+ W/ 120+ K's with muliple seasons of 290-300 40+ 110+. So while im not comparing him as a player to Ryan Braun i am saying that he will give u like Braun type offensive production with the K's while playing a far better LF.

While I really like to see other peoples opinions and think there are some really great info and other fan prosectices, i believe sometimes that too many people just spout off about prospects and things and have no clue what there talking about. So i wrote this hoping to clear up some things about 1 particular player that I feel i have more knowledge of than the average person on here.