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Two more HRs for Travis Snider, making it 5 in 5 games.


Syracuse 4 @ Scranton-WB 7

Ryan Roberts hit his 9th HR on the year.  Mottola and JFG had two hits, Wayne Lydon had a double and a triple and Russ Adams doubled.  Sergio Santos made his 7th AAA error this year.  Justin James had a rough outing, but Jamie Vermilyea and Gronk each had scoreless outings in relief.


New Hampshire 5 at New Britain 12

Aaron Mathews hit his 7th HR of the season and also had a double.  David Smith had 3 hits, including 2 doubles and Mayorson had 3 singles on the night leading off.  Ricky Romero started and gave up 4 earned runs over 4.2 innings.  The bullpen did not fare much better. 

Sarasota 5 @ Dunedin 3

Eric Neilsen and Jacob Butler each hit solo HRs for the D-Jays. Carlo Cota had three hits and Brian Jeroloman had 2. On the mound AJ Wideman gave up 5 runs, including 3 HRs, over 7 innings. He struck out 5 and walked none.


Lansing 7 at Beloit 8

Well, Travis Snider is hot.  He hit 2 HRs last night and also had a double.  He now has 5 HRs over his last 5 games (24 ABs).  Chris Emanuele also homered.  Graham Godrefy gave up 5 runs, but only 1 was earned.  However, he walked 4 and struck out none so he didn't help himself out.


Auburn
- Day off, All Star break


GCL Tigers 4 @ GCL Jays 2

Chi-Hung Cheng got another start working back from his injury. He went 4 innings this time out, striking out 4 and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and two walks. Cheng also picked off a runner at 1B as did Joel Collins, who also had a single & walk.


Snider's Hot | 13 comments | Create New Account
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Manhattan Mike - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 09:40 AM EDT (#173061) #

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Travis%20Snider&pos=CF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=501983

I wonder why young Mr. Snider is sent so often (11 attempted steals, 3 successful ones). Is it to teach him the art of base stealing?

 

Gerry - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 09:50 AM EDT (#173062) #

David Smith has been hot now for a couple of months.  Here is his OPS by month.

April - .623

May - .849

June - .750

July - 1.032

August - 1.003

Smith tried to change his approach this season to be less of a pull hitter.  After a slow start as he got accustomed to his new approach he has been the best hitter on the Fisher Cats over the last two months.  Smith is 26 and repeating AA so we shouldn't get too excited but if he can continue this level of performance he should be in AAA next season and have a chance to be a backup outfielder after that.

AWeb - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 10:12 AM EDT (#173065) #
On top of being hot (and how long has it been since a Jays hitter merited that particular adjective?), Snider also hits lefties very well and with a lot of power (.545 SLG). It's easy to see why he's the top hitting prospect.

As for why he's getting thrown out stealing so often, I'd hope that the low minors are the place to check almost everyone for stolen base ability.  It's a bit harsh to the fans of the team, but why not at least try it, and see if someone is capable. From his size (5'11'', 245), you wouldn't guess Snider would be that fast, but he is young. It occurs to me it also might be a good way to encourage the youngster to get in top shape, with the promise that if he does and shows some speed, he'll be allowed to steal bases (letting him have fun, keeping him motivated). Total speculation on my part, though.

Ryan Day - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 10:24 AM EDT (#173066) #
Snider's got some speed - he's hit 6 triples this year. I suspect he may not have very good baserunning instincts, so Lansing is probably the place to work on that.
John Northey - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 11:11 AM EDT (#173069) #
I remember in the Gillick days the Jays would have the A ball teams run wild. I suspect a mix of catchers who don't have the best aim yet, pitchers who are not the best at holding guys on (odds are they haven't had too many to hold on, especially high schoolers), and a desire to see if the kid can steal or not. Heck, even Cecil Fielder had 7 stolen bases in A ball vs. 3 caught stealing. FYI: I was surprised to see he got 2 more in '96 in Detroit.

I'd probably keep the kids doing it through AA and only in AAA get picky on caught stealing rates and picking your spots. In AA you would start hitting lots of top catchers who know what they are doing, most pitchers have learned that guys do get on and what to do about it, etc. Perfect time to see if the A ball kids learned anything and if they are potentially capable of it in the majors. In AAA you want to fine tune it, but AA let them go nuts one last time.
Dewey - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 11:57 AM EDT (#173071) #
From his size (5'11'', 245)....

Wow.  If Snider really is that size, he sounds a bit like a Pete Incaviglia body-type.  That's heavy for 5'11".  And he'll get heavier by the year.  Still, if he can hit  . . .
MatO - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#173076) #
There were reports earlier this season that he had lost 20lbs.
jgadfly - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 02:57 PM EDT (#173081) #
Ryan..."Snider's got some speed - he's hit 6 triples this year"... Four of which were at home in Lansing and I think I recall someone (Lugnut Fan ?) reporting that some of them were line drive rockets over the fielder's head that richochetted off of the high outfield fence and away from the fielder. I think he also mentioned that in most parks they would probably have been HR's.
jgadfly - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 03:28 PM EDT (#173083) #
The guy that I'm excited about is 18 yr old OF Eric Eiland of the GCL. Not only has he stolen 15 bases in 16 attempts but he is 6' 2" and 200 lbs. He is hitting .296 vs RHP with a .395 OBP & .813 OPS which is nice in almost 100 AB's. Even better is that his average with runners in scoring position is .359 with a .909 OPS. He is seen to be the best athlete to come out of the Houston area since Carl Crawford. Nice comp. The Jays were fortunate to sign him as he had a full football scholarship to Texas as a defensive half so he should be plenty tough enough. Cudos to the BJ drafters. ETA ? Still to early ?
Ryan Day - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 03:46 PM EDT (#173087) #
I'm not saying Snider's a speed demon or anything. But that many triples, combined with the stolen base attempts, suggests he's not exactly Cecil Fielder. Eric Hinske, without the instinct, perhaps.
R Billie - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 05:20 PM EDT (#173098) #

Snider did play football which is part of the reason for the additional weight you still don't see many 18 year olds that big.  There was talk at the beginning of the year that he's targeting more the 225-230ish range as a playing weight.  Like Prince Fielder he's going to have to work to keep the force coming down on his joints reasonable so he can have a lengthy career.  Unlike Prince he's currently slated for the outfield where he's going to do a lot of running so that will certainly play a factor by the time he's 30 if he's still on the large side.

But the kid can hit, no question.  His K's versus walks are a bit on the wonky side but everything he does hit he seems to do so with authority.  He's on a 40ish double, 20ish homerun pace as a 19 year old in a very tough hitting league.  That seems to suggest a rise in power as he gains experience and moves to leagues that won't be as tough on his overall numbers.  He should really take to New Hampshire's ballpark which is friendlier to lefties.

R Billie - Wednesday, August 15 2007 @ 05:30 PM EDT (#173100) #
Eiland looks promising.  The speed is one thing but it's meaningless without that ability with the bat.  I'm guessing he's more of a pull hitter at this point as hitting lefties would require him to spray the ball more.  But even if all he does is hit and get on base versus righties really well with plus speed and defence, that's a great pickup.  It'll be very interesting to see where he is in four years.
Jevant - Thursday, August 16 2007 @ 10:16 AM EDT (#173126) #
This also reminds of a fact of which I am eternally grateful - Snider is a LH bat.  We could use a couple more of those in the system (bigs too!)
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