Although it looks like most of the bench spots may be taken up with the new signings, prospect Brandon Snyder may be giving some some healthy competition. It’s not likely that Synder will make the team; however, he’s impressing those in the camp who have the power to determine one’s fate.
In light of it all, Dave Trembley is giving a lot of players a good look and a fair shot at camp.
Considering how far Snyder has come — especially when he had to recover from injuries and give up catching — he’s done fairly well in making his name one to remember down in Florida. A lot of fans expected to see progress from Synder from the day he was drafted, and perhaps it took a while for him develop in the minors, but once again, the Orioles may now have a player ready to make an impact in the majors.
Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports caught the workout on Sunday and passed on his observations of the young infielder.
No matter where Snyder plays, he’s expected to hit.
“The second day he was here, I said, ‘I remember throwing BP to you in instructional league five years ago when I was managing in the minor leagues.’ And the one thing that always impressed me about him is that he’s got very good power to the other side of the field,” Trembley said.
“He can really hit the ball hard to right field and right-center field. That’s very hard to teach a young guy. A lot of guys, they just want to come up and pull. But he’s got very good opposite-field strength and power. He’s got an idea how to handle a bat.
“He’s one of the guys who’s very appreciative to be here. I think he’s settled in nicely. Maybe the first day, he was a little nervous. A lot of these guys are like that, but we’re trying to make them comforable. He’s got a chance to be a very good offensive player.
“He’s told me he wants to play a little third base here. He’ll get some time in that Italy game to play first and maybe play a little third. He’s an offensive player.”
Again, I don’t know if he’s going to make the team this time around out of Spring Training; however, I do think he’s a name you’ll see up in September and more then likely next year if the contracts of Aubrey Huff and/or Melvin Mora are not renewed.
Good for him.
