MLB reports:  What a difference a year makes.  2010 was a season where essentially nothing went right for Travis Snider.  From batting at the bottom of the Jays lineup all year to frequent trips to the disabled list and the minors, the then twenty-two year outfielder was beginning to lose the lustre from his prospect star status.  Rumors of immaturity and attitude haunted the young man, as well as frequent disagreements with then Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston.  Now healthy and part of the newly constructed Toronto team, Travis Snider is ready to take his game to the next level.

In my estimation, no Toronto player will benefit greater from the hiring of John Farrell as manager than Snider.  The previous regime under Gaston was not seen as “rookie friendly” to say the least.  While Snider got off to a quick start last year, he quickly started to fade early on.  In whatever approach Gaston was trying to preach to the kid, clearly it was not working.  From there, spending time in the minors and on the DL has a way of shattering a young player’s confidence.  Remember, Snider a year ago was one of the top hitting prospects in baseball and the future face of the franchise.  Watching his approach at the plate, Snider appeared to be overly aggressive to me.  A common symptom of being a young hitter, few hitters can go up to the plate and wait for their pitch in the manner that Jason Heyward does.  But after two years of less than 300 hundred at-bats and lifetime MLB avg of .255, clearly a change was needed to Snider’s game.  That change has arrived and I saw it last night.

I was expecting to see Snider hitting 8th last night but was pleasantly surprised to see him in the 7th spot.  Although not a huge difference, Farrell had Snider hitting between Encarnacion and Rivera, two veteran hitters who would be able to give him protection in the lineup.  The higher slot in the lineup to me translates to a vote of confidence for the kid.  After some solid games, I expect Snider to move up to #6 and even as high as 5th as the season progresses.  He has that much talent and hopefully the Jays let him showcase his abilities.  However, the biggest change I saw in Snider was his stance and approach at the plate.  Snider finished the night 0-2 with 2 BB and 2 runs scored.  The tone of the night for him was set in his first at-bat, when Travis was able to reach first on an error.  Snider gave a nice little fist pump after reaching base- showing his heart and desire to play the game the right way.  Although not getting credit for a hit, Travis did show great hustle and determination in that at-bat.  The rest of the night for me centered around his new stance.  The “superstar” stance as I call it. 

Dwayne Murphy has clearly invested a great deal of time in working with Snider.  His mechanics and approach at the plate are much better in 2011.  Last year, Snider looked extremely lost at the plate to me.  Last night, Snider showcased his new approach which clearly is starting to work for him.  Snider is taking more pitches and seeing the ball much better.  Both walks he took last night were hard-fought and well-earned.  It appeared to me that Travis watching video of Nick Swisher in the off-season and starting to follow his approach at the plate.  Snider has a nice fluid stroke and in opening his stance, he is able to see pitches better and wait for the right ones.  I expect to see Snider’s walk rate spike and his home run totals proportionately.  My sense is that Farrell and Murphy have much faith in the kid and he will be rewarding them with a solid breakout season in 2011.   

I won’t sit and blame Cito Gaston for all of Travis Snider’s woes in 2010.  Snider has to take responsibility for his own actions and results in the process.  But clearly the relationship between manager and player did not work in that case and a change was needed.  John Farrell has vast experience working with young players, from being a farm director with the Indians to being the pitching coach in Boston.  Farrell to win over Snider will need to play him day-in and day-out.  The greatest mistake that a young player can make is to press too hard early on, afraid that any mistakes could lead to a demotion to the bench or minors.  If Snider is allowed to play through mistakes and slumps, the law of probability will result in success coming through the flip side.  The Travis Snider that I saw on opening night was excited to be a part of the team.  He did not press at the plate and did the little things necessary to contribute to his team’s success.  Watch out for Travis Snider, the next superstar and franchise of the Toronto Blue Jays.

MLB REPORTS FROM FRIDAY APRIL 1ST:

1)  The Toronto Blue Jays got off to a fast start on the season, crushing the Twins 13-3 in the Rogers Centre.  Ricky Romero had an impressive opening day, pitching 6.1 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 ER and 7 SO.  The key telling stat of the night was 0 walks given up by the young lefty.  Carl Pavano, on the other hand, gave up 7 runs in 4 innings of work.  Looking like the Pavano from the Yankees days, the night was simply brutal for the veteran.  Bautista and Lind had huge games for the Jays but the star of the night was the #9 hitting catcher J.P. Arencebia, going 3-4 with 5 rbis, 2 hr’s and a triple to boot.  For one day at least, the Jays look like the team to beat in the East.

2)  The Phillies squeaked out a close one in Philadelphia in their opener, with Halladay and Myers facing in a strong pitching duel.  Halladay was stellar in the 5-4 Phillies win, with 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, o BB and 6 SO.  Roy is just scary good and its only the start of the season.  In the “closer implosion” series, Brandon Lyon in 1/3 of an inning gave up 6 hits and 3 ER.  Perhaps trading Lidstrom was not the brightest move for the Astros.  Baez finished with the save in this one but only because of the late 9th inning magic by the Phillies bats.  Madson pitching a clean 8th with 2 SO is still the closer at this point.  Rollins and Howard both had 2 hits in the win for the Phillies.

3)  The Pirates played their hearts out in a 6-3 win over the Cubs in Wrigley.  Kevin Correia pitched 6 solid innings, 2 ER, 1 BB and 3 SO.  Dempster on the other hand, gave up 6 ER in his 6.2 IP.  Meek and Hanrahan were lock down in the 8th and 9th for the Pirates, with 2 SO each in their respective innings of work.  For all the closer debates in Pittsburgh, that is a great situation to have.  But if opening day is an indication, Hanrahan is definitely the closer for now.  Any sign of falter though and Meek becomes the new Matt Capps for Pittsburgh.  Neil Walker at 2B and batting second had the game of his life, with a grand slam home run and walk.  McCutchen also homered and looked solid.  Castro had 3 hits in the lone bright spot for the Cubs on this day.

4)  The White Sox beat the Indians in a barn burner in Cleveland, 15-10.  Mark Buehrle had a typical outing, 6 IP, 4 ER, 1 BB and 0 SO.  Fausto Carmona got destroyed to the tune of 10 ER in 3.0 IP to get the worst start line of any pitcher on opening day.  Many players had nice stats lines in a blowout game on this day, with Santana pacing the Indians in the cleanup spot with 3 hits and a home run.  Dunn and Quentin were the beasts for the White Sox, each with a home run, Dunn with 4 ribbies and Quentin with 5.

5)  The Rangers won their opener, 9-5 against the Red Sox.  C.J. Wilson solidified his ace status with the win, giving up 2 ER in 6.2 IP and 6 SO.  Jon Lester did not have it on this day, giving up 5 ER in 5.1 IP.  The Rangers had 3 bombs, with Mike Napoli (see my article on him earlier in the offseason) leading the way with 2 hits, 3 rbis and a walk.  Crawford was hitless in his Red Sox debut and Adrian Gonzalez had 2 hits and 3 rbis.

6)  The Diamondbacks won a wild one in Coors, beating the Rockies 7-6.  Ubaldo was off tonight, giving up 5 ER in 6.0 IP.  Not what Rockies fans expected from their ace.   J.J. Putz had a clean save in the win, 1.0 IP and 2 SO.  Upton and Montero had nice games for the winners with a home run apiece.

7)  In the upset of the night, the Orioles stunned the Rays 4-1 in Tampa.  David Price, despite giving up only 5 hits and 1 BB in 7.0 IP with 7 SO gave up all 4 runs.  Guthrie shut out the Rays during his 8.0 IP, giving up only 3 hits and 1 BB.  With only 5 hits on the night, the Orioles were able to beat David Price even when he was on his game…signs that the AL East will be as tough as many expect in 2011.

8)  The New York Mets began their dismissal season with a 6-2 loss to the Marlins. Josh Johnson was unhittable early on and finished with 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 hits and 2 BB allowed.  The stars of the night for the Marlins were Logan Morrison and John Buck, both with a home run (Buck with the grand slam).  Gaby Sanchez also had 2 hits for the strong Marlins opening game. 

9)  In the final opening game of the season, King Felix had the season’s only complete game to-date in the Mariners 6-2 win.  Felix gave up 2 ER, 5 hits and 0 BB in 108 pitches thrown, with 5 SO.  The AL West has been put on notice.  Willingham in the cleanup spot had a home run for the A’s while the light-hitting Chone Figgins countered with a jack of his own for the M’s.  With every team getting a game into the record books, opening day is now complete!

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