FLIP:  Jon with another of his patented pitch-flight graphs, this one on Snell.

CHOP:  This pitch-flight graphs do get the idea across on what Snell actually throws.   (Though he does have an 80 curveball that drops straight down.)

Interesting to see a pitcher who turns the ball over so well on his changeup -- getting screwball action -- who also throws a tight-spin 11-5 slider breaking so hard the opposite way. 

I mean Snell's slider can look like Kerry Wood's, and here he is getting run in on RH's with the other pitches.  Not so many of those exist.    

Drop Dead Freddy had a hard screwball change -- and a slider -- but at different times of his career.  When he was here, he threw the screwball and a 12-6.  After he left, he threw a slider and a straight change.

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=== Pitch Shapes vs LH ===

With these pitch shapes, Snell has to be careful vs LH's.  The FB is exactly the shape that LH hitters love most -- tailing away from them a bit, right onto the barrels of their bats.

This isn't just an opinion of mine.  Aside from being a baseball truism, we've seen pitch data confirming that RHP's suffer badly from FB's that tail down-and-away to LHP's.   You know who gets hurt by this?  Felix Hernandez.   Snell will too.

And guess where Snell's true slider goes?  Right down into the wheelhouses of the David Ortizes of the world.

This does not make Snell a chump, a meatball, etc.  It means that his natural weapons happen to be platoon-split weapons.   His celestial bronze sword is deadly against the RH centaurs and cyclopes of the realm, but bronze isn't as efficient against human iron and steel.  :- )

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=== Pitch Shapes vs RH ===

All three of Snell's pitches have shapes that RH's hate.  So you'd expect a big platoon split from Snell, which he in fact has.   He's 300/390/490 lifetime vs lefties.

Don't panic.  This guy fans 8 men a game.  The LH/RH thing is a stylistic quirk of a guy who dominates hitters.

Especially against RH hitters?  You've got a Felix FB, thrown hard and breaking down into your jam zone, and you've got a tight-spin slider suddenly breaking away from you.  That's V-E-R-Y tough to defend against both parts of the plate at the same time.

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=== Time to Panic?  Not ===

Also, Snell's SL can be SO good that it fans lefties, too, just like Randy Johnson throwing his slider at a RH's back foot.

Check this video out.  Aug 20, 2008 vs the Cards.  That should give you the idea on young Mr. Snell!

Notice the 80 curve that drops straight down, too.

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And the LH/RH split is not bad news, anyway. 

A lot of guys have big platoon splits, such as Jered Weaver.   They make up ground on the RH's, and they learn to be careful with the LH's.

Weaver is 10-3, 3.71 this year -- allowing a .556 OPS to righties and a .819 OPS (!) to lefties.   You learn to work around your assets and liabilities.

"Stack lefties on him," you say?  Fine, but do YOU have three Branyans on your bench?   Sorry.  This is the era of the 13-man pitching staff.  All you have on your bench is a UT infielder and the #2 catcher.

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Just be aware that Snell will have to be careful LH's, and he'll bully RH's a lot.    The slider is fine when it's breaking like a Randy Johnson pitch, but when it's not, he'll need other weapons.

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At times, Ian Snell's power slider can look like an Erik Bedard hammer -- and Snell hits 96 on the gun.  Plus, two other pitches.  This kid has some ugly stuff.

Cheers,

Dr D