Nine Innings is a series of questions with players & personnel from around Major League Baseball. In this edition, Shi Davidi talks to former Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider ahead of his first trip back to Toronto since being traded.
Travis Snider knows well the highs of being a top prospect that graduates to the big leagues at a young age, and the lows that can very well accompany them.
A first-round pick in 2006, Snider made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 29, 2008 at the tender age of 20 years, 209 days. Snider had a great September, a strong start the next season and then spent the next four seasons bouncing between the minors and majors.
Now a member of the Baltimore Orioles, it wasn’t until the Blue Jays traded him to the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2012 trade deadline that things stabilized for him.
His advice for young players?
“Balance. Balancing your personal life, the work and the play,” he says. “When you come to the field, there’s going to be a lot of people to help you, especially when you have a bad couple of games. Understand they’re there to help, but also understand as you grow older in this game, taking ownership is key, but not doing it in some of the ways I did early on in my career, being stubborn. Take a step and evaluate yourself and say, ‘Hey, I am here because of how hard I’ve worked, but to stay here I have to work harder.’ Find that balance between working hard and working smart. But most importantly, find someone you can rely on, a veteran guy you see doing things the right way, and try to learn as much as you can.”
Here are Snider’s Nine Innings with us.
1st – What have been your most important areas of growth as a player since leaving the Toronto Blue Jays?
“Just the overall approach to this profession. As a young player, I had a lot of good people around me and I didn’t understand how to receive a lot of the good advice I was getting, starting with the coaching staff I played for. A lot of veteran guys in that clubhouse were good influences on me, but it took a lot of trial and error on my part to put myself in the position I’m in now, understanding what the focus has got to be on, of getting better every single day, being able to go out there at 7:05 and just play.”
2nd – Once you joined the Pittsburgh Pirates, how long did it take to adjust to a new environment and to start finding yourself?
“I’d say going into 2013 after the trade. What we experienced at the end of the (2012) season, it brought everybody together as a whole and put the focus on the team. Being a young prospect early on in my career, a lot of focus was on me, and I have myself to blame. You allow those distractions to come in, instead of understanding what everyone has to do, how everyone’s got to pull the rope the same way if you want to be successful as a team at the highest level.”
3rd – The Pirates try to tailor plans for each player. What did they have in mind for you once you joined them?
“They do a tremendous job in providing tools for the mental side of the game. A lot of us are physically gifted athletes but what separates guys at this level is being able to focus on the daily work of what you have to do to get better, and then go out there and compete. It sounds easy, but with all the distractions in the world we have today as professional athletes and being on that platform, you’ve got to understand what it is you want to get better at. That’s where coaches, training staff, everybody who’s there to provide you with information, you find out what works for you and go into each day with a plan.”
4th – How did you adjust to life in a part-time role, something you excelled at last season?
“Simplifying the process. What do I want to work on? If I’m not playing, what is it I want to improve on, in the weight room, in batting practice, in the cage? When the time comes to hit or get your start, treat is as a normal game, not putting anything more or less. Clint (Hurdle) and the staff in Pittsburgh, they did a great job with us bench guys, making us understand that we can’t go out there and try to get three hits just because your name is in the lineup for the first time in four days. You’ve got to take it one pitch at a time, one at-bat at a time, simplify it.”
5th – What are the biggest differences between playing in the regular season and the playoffs?
“Oh, man. Pittsburgh was a special case with all those years of not being there, the intensity, the excitement, the emotions — everything comes into it. Especially it being your first time, even me getting that first start last year, it was even different than being a bench guy, pinch-hitting. It gives you that perspective. If you approach it as anything more than a baseball game, you can find yourself at times being overamped. The great ones who have experienced it, been there and done it, whether it’s been success that’s led them there or failure to prepare themselves, they find a way to go out there and play the game.”
6th – Did you try the tatchos – potato tots covered in nacho cheese and chili – they sell in the stands at PNC Park?
“I heard about them but I stay away from chili, that’s one thing I don’t do very often. I didn’t get into them.”
7th – Did the trade to Baltimore catch you off-guard?
“Just the timing. When you get into January, you’re getting ready for spring training, but I knew given (Gregory) Polanco’s status and the way they were moving in Pittsburgh that the possibility was there. During the winter meetings, you see something, read something, nothing comes of it, and then the time comes you get that phone call, I had a little bit of notice, a conversation with my agent to be prepared for it, but you really don’t know until you get that phone call.”
8th – What was your reaction to coming back to the American League East?
“I was excited. Knowing this culture here that had been built up, it’s similar to Pittsburgh. They didn’t have a winner for a lot of years that I was in the East, and I saw the nucleus of guys here that’s come up and played, grinded it out through some tough years and had a chance to play in the playoffs the past couple of years. I had a lot of special relationships in Pittsburgh that will be missed, but at the same time the focus is here and now.”
9th – You’re returning to Toronto for the first time since the Blue Jays traded you. What do you expect that to be like for you?
“I wouldn’t say emotional as much as good memories. The fan support throughout my career there was incredible, through the ups and downs. I never felt like the fans ever turned their back on me, and I’ll forever be grateful to those fans up there. They’ve even continued to support me. It’s funny. My wife, we weren’t together when I was there, over the years she’s gotten to see the amount of support I still have north of the border. I understand now wearing this uniform and playing in this division, it’s going to be harder for people to root for me, I get that, but I also want those people to know I’m very thankful for all their support over the years.”