Brandon Snyder, 19, sat on the bench in the Delmarva Shorebirds? dugout, and looked out at the infield at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury.
Less than a year after he was drafted in the first round by the Orioles, the shorstop-turned-catcher has made the jump to full-season baseball at the low Single-A level.
“This spring training was really the first time I really focused on catching. That definitely helped,” said Snyder, who played mostly shortstop at Westfield High School in Northern Virginia.
But Snyder was placed on the disabled list last week, as a precaution, with a left shoulder strain.
“I am trying not to rush it. It is very early in the year,” the right-handed thrower said before Friday?s game.
Is there pressure on Snyder to reach the majors, since the Orioles have not had a winning season since 1997? Baseball America named him the seventh-best prospect in the Oriole system at the end of last season.
Snyder, from Centreville, Va., is hitting .228 (21-92) in 23 games. He has eight doubles, three home runs and 15 RBIs. He has a slugging percentage of .413 and an on-base percentage of .283.
“He is a very polished … young kid,” said Delmarva manager Gary Kendall, a Baltimore native and 1981 graduate of Sparrows Point High School.
Snyder worked out for the Orioles at a pre-draft camp at Camden Yards a few days before he was selected No. 13 overall. Another player at that workout was Baltimore native Brandon Erbe, 18, a 2005 graduate of McDonogh High School.
“I thought this kid was out of college,” Erbe said of that pre-draft camp, where Snyder showed off his power from the right side.
Snyder is used to being at major league parks. His father, Brian, pitched for the Seattle Mariners in 1985 and the Oakland A?s in 1989.
Brian Snyder grew up in New Jersey as a fan of the Yankees. He took Brandon to post-season games at Camden Yards in the 1990s when the Yankees played the Orioles.
“I love going to Camden Yards. If I wasn?t playing, I would be there right now,” Brandon Snyder said. The Orioles hope he is there again one day: as a player.
THE SNYDER FILE
Team: Delmarva Shorebirds
Position: catcher
Birthdate: Nov. 23, 1986
Height/weight: 6-2/190
Did you know? Snyder hit .271 with eight homers and 35 RBIs last season in 44 games for Bluefield in the rookie Appalachian League, and .393 in eight games for Aberdeen in the Single-A New York-Penn League … Snyder was signed by veteran scout Ty Brown … Snyder has twin brothers who played on the varsity team at Westfield High as freshmen. They were sophomores this past season.
