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With More ABs in Baltimore, 2015 Could Be Travis Snider's Year
As a die-hard Pittsburgh Pirates fan, I hated hearing the news of outfielder Travis Snider's trade to the Baltimore Orioles. The guy made some spectacular catches, had a bunch of clutch at-bats, and turned out to be the perfect complementary mentor, backup, and pinch-hitter for Gregory Polanco. With that being said, I'm ecstatic that Lunch Box Hero (as the Twitter world refers to him) is going to have relevance in fantasy baseball this year. I've always loved his work ethic along with is ability to drive in runs even in the bleakest of situations. Both of those traits made Snider a dynamic pinch-hitter for the Bucs last year, but it will be intriguing to see if his eighth season will finally be the one that keeps him in a starting lineup for good.
We don't know for sure what kind of role Snider is going to have with Baltimore. The good news is thatnoone in that organization really knows either, which means he will get his chances. The lefty hitter may do a lot of platooning (possibly with Steve Pearce) to begin with, but if that's the case he'll still be hitting most days thanks to his pinch-hitting skills. In an article written on July 28th last year, MLB.com stated that the Pirates were leading the National League in pinch-hits and pinch-hit RBI. Snider was the leader of the pack with 12 hits at that point, and a few of those clutch hits were game-tying or go-ahead homers. It wasn't long after that Snider was rewarded with an everyday role in right-field as Polanco cooled off quickly. The red-cheeked right fielder seized the chance and polished off his best year in the majors so far.
Here come the impressive stats. Snider hit .289 with a .524 slugging percentage from July 22nd to the end of the year when he was getting multiple at-bats in most games. He also became much more patient at the plate, bumped his walk rate up a bit, and decreased his once-worrisome strikeout rate. Projected out to 600 at-bats at a pace slightly below that one, Snider would have been somewhere around 25 homers and 70 RBI. Not to mention the guy was a doubles machine, which can be a great perk for in-depth category leagues. Odds are he is not going to get anywhere near 600 at-bats in 2015, but if this strong finish is a sign of things to come for the 27-year old there is nothing stopping him from claiming a starting spot for good in the Orioles’ lineup.
If you’re thinking about targeting Snider in your draft this year I would recommend picking him somewhere late in a Roto league or a deep H2H league (14-team or AL only). Snider is not one of those guys who I expect to breakout to be a number one or two OF for your team at the end of the year. He has a relatively low ceiling, but I will be happy to draft him as a fifth OF and see if he can rekindle the flame he lit last summer.
