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Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
Mentally fragile?
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Yes...I know you're not aware of this as an Cards fan who's barely watched Snider play over the last five years or knows really much of anything about him beyond broad generalities ascertained by his stat line, but that much came out in the interview he did after he was traded where he essentially admitted as much. Snider talked about how much guys like Cito Gaston and Gene Tenace affected him early in his MLB career when he shouldn't have let them and referred to how contract extension talks at the beginning of the 2011 season weighed on him and even got into his head while he was at the plate.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/201...burden_lifted/
Read that saga of events (all three parts) and tell me this kid isn't more full of self-doubt than your average major league player. Tell me he doesn't dwell on negative things way more than he should and that he doesn't become distracted by minor things. The fact that he would even grant that interview just two months after he was traded and give all those details about why he failed (while criticizing both his own immaturity and the organization at the same time) is a bit of an odd red flag in itself.
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The kid never learned to hit a breaking ball. Ever.
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Breaking balls were not his problem by the end of his stint in Toronto. He had screwed his swing up so much that he wasn't catching up to fastballs in the zone anymore. By the end, he looked nothing like the kid that came up in 2008/2009 with the promising hitting ability and power.
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You were ignoring a fundamental flaw in his game because you were a homer. It's no big deal, everyone does it. But don't sit here and act like it took a psychiatrist to figure out why he'd fail. All you needed to have was an open mind and some understanding of history. Guys that can't find the strikezone rarely locate it.
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Ignoring would imply that I wasn't aware of it or that I didn't acknowledge it. Which, if you read the thread you cited, wasn't the case at all. I just know that players, especially players as young as Snider (21-22 at the time), often improve their skills as their careers go on (and yes, such skills even include plate discipline). Especially when they have as impressive a minor league track record as Snider had at such a young age. That didn't happen (and if you read the story I posted, there are seemingly quite a few reasons for it that nobody knew about at the time). Based on his MILB numbers, Snider was also not the Frenchy or Delmon Young type player you attempted to paint him as. He took his fair share of walks at all levels. There's a reason why more knowledgeable people about prospects than you or I believed the kid would eventually be a very successful MLB player despite his high K total. Unfortunately, even prospect experts don't have access to all of the bits of information necessary to determine if a player will be successful at the next level. Most importantly, they don't have access to what is going on in a player's mind.
Speaking of left-handed hitting outfielders who haven't reached their potential, have problems with the strike zone, and are seemingly being held back because of their mental games, what's the deal with Colby Rasmus? He's getting close to reaching the end of his rope in Toronto. Unlike Snider, you've seen this kid more than I have. Is he ever going to reach his potential? Is he ever even going to become a dependable MLB player? He had a great 1st half last season before completely falling off a cliff. There's just no consistency there. I suspect the Jays are willing to give him another season to figure it out (as they should for lack of a better option), but it's probably his last chance as a full-time starter in CF for them.