SARASOTA, Fla. — A year ago, Travis Snider and Adam Lind were pretty much joined at the hip throughout training camp.
You didn’t see one without the other.
They were two young guys, Lind, 25, and Snider, 21, fighting for spots on the Blue Jays roster.
Although Lind had the advantage of some playing time, it was Snider and his raw power that was the talk of the camp.
A year later it’s a different story.
Snider and Lind remain close pals but their careers have taken different routes.
Lind soared in 2009 as he hit .305 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs.
Snider flopped as pitchers quickly realized he had big problems hitting the soft stuff. He opened the season with the Jays but on May 21 was sent to triple-A. He was recalled on Aug. 13 for the remainder of the season. Overall in 77 games, he hit .241 with nine homers and 29 RBIs.
Success can at times split people apart but so far it hasn’t affected their relationship. And Lind, this spring, arrived at camp engaged.
They still play video games and discuss hitting with Lind the Yoda-master and Snider the pupil.
“I think it’s better,” Lind said of their relationship. “It’s another year that we’ve spent together.”
Offering advice to a teammate can at times be a tricky proposition. If too many people are chirping, teammates and coaches, confusion usually reigns.
“I feel like I can help him because I’m older,” Lind said. “Hitting is so different, though, that I might tell you something that you might not disagree with but you don’t see what I’m saying.
“Hitting’s like a big circle. Three people can tell you one thing in completely different ways.”
While Lind has taken the more traditional route to the bigs — he was a college grad drafted in 2004 and worked his way up the ladder — Snider, a high school pick, arrived in 2008 with a rush.
“I just told him that I was in college when I was 21 and you were in the big leagues trying to hit when you were 21 trying to hit CC Sabathia, so it’s a little bit different situation than I was,” Lind said.
Despite his struggles last year — and through 12 spring games he has continued to struggle despite going 2-for-3 with a solo homer, his first of the spring on Wednesday — Lind said that Snider remains upbeat.
“I think he’s pretty comfortable with where he’s at right now and he should be,” Lind said. “He’s 22 and he’s in the big leagues.”
While both players have plenty of power, Lind is the more accomplished hitter as he can hit for average off righties and lefties, pull inside pitches and drive the ball into the gaps on the outer half of the plate.
Snider, on the other hand, is a pure, pull everything power hitter.
“When I was younger we approached hitting similarly but now I think I’ve changed a little bit,” Lind said. “I pretty much know my swing well enough now where when I get bad, I know how to get back to being right.
“He’s so young, he still needs a lot of help because he doesn’t quite have the feeling for himself yet. He’s so young he just doesn’t know what it takes to get back to where he needs to be just by feeling his own body.”
Because their styles are different they may talk hitting but not about how to hit.
“We don’t talk so much about the mechanics of hitting but definitely about what the pitcher’s doing,” Lind said.
mike.rutsey@sunmedia.ca
