What's the concern with Travis Snider?

Since coming over from the Blue Jays in a deadline deal, Travis Snider has, on the surface, looked pretty good. He's hit .267 with three runs and two RBI in 19 plate appearances. He also has one stolen base, two walks and three strikeouts. Those last two numbers are important as plate discipline in the majors was the primary concern in his major league career to this point.

I think there's another problem lurking just under the surface of those numbers, though. All four of his hits were singles and three of four were pulled to the right side. In fact, a look at his spray chart is fairly alarming. According to Fangraphs, Snider has pulled the ball 54% of the time this year for a .211 average. He's gone to center 34% of the time for a .411 average and he's gone the opposite way only 4 times for a 1.000 average. It shows you that he's quite effective as a hitter when he stays up the middle or drives the ball to the opposite field, but he's become a mostly pull hitter and it has hurt his effectiveness.

In his short Pirates career, Snider has gone the opposite way only once and it resulted in a hit. Most of the time he rolls over and pulls the ball on the ground to the right side. So far, teams have played him pretty straight up, but you can expect that to change if Snider's tendencies don't. If he can no longer poke the ball through a hole on the right side, he's going to be in serious trouble. I'm sure Pittsburgh's hitting coach Gregg Ritchie has been working with Snider to stay through the ball and drive it the other way, but the results have not been there to date. He did noticeably sit out the last couple of games, so hopefully he and Ritchie and Hurdle are working on things.

The bottom line is, if the Pirates are going to contend down the stretch, they need Snider to turn it around. They need him to flash that incredible power potential; they need him to continue to be patient at the plate; and most of all, they need him to start driving the ball up the middle or going with pitches and driving them the other way.