KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Being able to hit a fastball rarely is an issue at the major-league level.
Players who can’t hit fastballs hard often don’t get a sniff at this level. They are weeded out long before.
But such is not the case with the Blue Jays’ Travis Snider this spring.
In the left fielder’s case it’s a matter of getting back to basics, going back to Hitting 101.
So far this spring, Snider has been ineffective against left-handers throwing breaking balls. He has not swung when breaking balls cut through the heart of the plate and has waved weakly at balls breaking off the plate.
The Jays don’t give a hoot. Not now, anyway.
Hitting the breaking ball will come later. First up is getting Snider back to squaring up and drilling fastballs hard and deep.
That’s what got him here. That’s why the Jays made him their No. 1 pick, the 14th player taken overall in the 2006 June draft.
Last year, though, in somewhat of a lost season, Snider lost his way. Unable to cope with major-league breaking balls and off-speed pitches, he developed bad habits at the plate, lost his timing and confidence and found himself in between pitches. Suddenly he was late on fastballs.
He was late on pitches that he used to drive into the gaps and into the seats. He would get jammed. He’d pop up. It was misery.
“From what I experienced last year a lot of times I wasn’t ready to hit the fastball and when you’re not ready to hit the fastball, they’re going to challenge you with the fastball and they’re going to go with their best pitch,” Snider said. “For me to be successful is being ready to hit the fastball and getting that pitch to drive early in the count and try to make the most of that pitch when I get it instead of being behind on the fastball and getting myself into pitcher-advantage counts. When you’re down 0-1, 0-2 now you’re seeing the breaking stuff, which is tough to lay off some times.”
So, what was the problem, why wasn’t he ready?
“I think there were some mechanical issues and timing was the most important thing,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get myself back into that rhythm at the plate. When you have good rhythm at the plate you’re ready to hit the fastball, ready to drive that pitch when you get it.
“That’s not to say you’re going to do it every day but when you’re consistently making good contact with fastballs it makes it tough for a pitcher because he knows if he comes in the zone, you’re going to be there to punish him. It’s just a matter of being ready to get that pitch when it comes and putting a good swing on it.”
When it goes the other way it becomes soul sucking, especially so for a young hitter facing failure and frustration for the first time. Snider had been able to rip fastballs ever since he first started to swing a bat and when that went, so did the confidence.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you’re getting good pitches and you’re not able to put a good swing on it,” he said.
This spring, he notices a difference and is confident that he’s turned a corner.
“So far everything has been there. The swings are good, the batting practice is good and I’m making more consistent contact on the fastball during the games,” Snider said.
“You never want to be in that position where you’re not hitting the pitches you always did.”
Snider has been there, done that and has the T-shirt.
He’s determined to move on.
mike.rutsey@sunmedia.ca
