There comes a time when the Jays can no longer wait for Travis Snider to become the player they expe
When Travis Snider awoke on this first Friday of August, he found himself at the crossroads of his young career. What must be remembered is that Snider is still just 23 years old; it just seems like he's been around for a lot longer than that.
And it also seems like the sands in his Toronto Blue Jays hourglass are starting to sift away. For the second time this season, a season in which much was expected of the left-handed-hitting outfielder, Snider has been sent back to triple-A Las Vegas.
The first time, back on April 28, came as a bit of a surprise, although it shouldn't have. He was hitting just .184 through his first 25 games with five extra-base hits and was striking out once every 4.3 plate appearances. At the time, he was told to report and work on his swing, with specific instructions -- to make some fundamental adjustments to his swing.
After an extended, 49-game stay in "Sin City," in which he hit .333 with an OPS of .890, it was deemed that the proper adjustments had been made. Although the fact he hit just two home runs in 226 at-bats was a bit of a head-scratcher for a guy expected to be a middle-of-the-order producer and in a league known primarily for its offence.
So, on the Fourth of July, Snider was recalled and he put on his familiar No. 45 and came out swinging against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, lashing three doubles in five at-bats in a wild 9-7 win. In his first 13 games with the Jays, the numbers were impressive: .357 average, seven multi-hit games, 17 RBIs, 8 for 14 RISP and .981 OPS. But, as the saying goes, "old habits die hard" and a four-strikeout night on July 19 against the Mariners sent up warning flares.
Since then, it's been all downhill statistically for Snider. Over his last 11 games before the demotion, Snider went 6 for 44 (.136) with just one extra-base hit and one RBI while striking out 16 times. He also went 1 for 13 RISP.
Really, when looking over those numbers, there was no reason not to demote Snider again. He isn't above average in any aspects of the game; but what troubles me from where I sit is his inability to recognize strikes and adjust to the way the opposition was attacking him.
You can break down his swing all day, but not being able to lay off balls out of the strike zone has been his undoing. For as long as Snider has been a Jay, he has had a massive hole in his swing, especially off-speed pitches that end up down and in when crossing the plate. Almost every time, he swings over those balls.
His 162-game average has him striking out 165 times while hitting 20 HRs. You could live with the high "K" totals if he's hitting 40-plus bombs like Adam Dunn or Ryan Howard.
So where does this leave Snider in the grand scheme of things with the Blue Jays? That's hard to determine, but with Eric Thames clearly passing him on the outfield depth chart, with what Alex Anthopoulos gave up to acquire Colby Rasmus and Jose Bautista returning to right field after the long-awaited debut of top prospect Brett Lawrie, Snider will likely be in Triple-A through the end of their season and won't return to the majors until after the rosters are expanded in September and then as a bench player.
Don't be shocked if Snider is traded this off-season. Perhaps he'll be involved in a deal to try to find a closer, something that the franchise sorely needs, as evidenced by Thursday's double blown-save, extra-innings loss to division-rival Tampa Bay.
Whatever high ceiling he's had has been slowly lowered and, quite frankly, he is what he is: a player with an average skill set. Sure, he's still 23, but at some point that has to stop being the only argument to keep him in the equation going forward.
