Pittsburgh Pirates Need Travis Snider’s Spark

By Andrew Lenz on October 17, 2014

It took seven years and a change of scenery for Travis Snider to finally find his groove.

This season, coming off of the bench for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Snider provided a spark that the team desperately needed. With Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte missing time with injuries, and Gregory Polanco struggling at the major-league level, Snider found enough playing time to make a big difference in some key games. Pittsburgh needs to keep Snider on the roster because of his ability to step into the starting lineup and produce consistently.

Will Snider ever live up to his status as a first-round pick? Probably not, but luckily for him, the Pirates don’t need that. What Pittsburgh needs from Snider is exactly what he gave the team this season. He is a role player, and that is all the Pirates need in the outfield.

The Pirates have arguably the best outfield in MLB in McCutchen, Marte and Polanco. That allows Snider to focus on coming off of the bench in key situations. This season proved that, despite having a strong outfield, Pittsburgh still needs a solid fourth outfielder to step in on routine days off or in case of injury.

Marte ended up missing a decent number of games this year with a couple different injuries, including a concussion. While he was out, Snider stepped into left field and put together a strong stretch of games. Later on in the season, Snider returned to left field when Marte moved over to center field to cover for an injured McCutchen. Not only did Snider step in and do a good job covering for those two, but when Polanco started to struggle in right field, Snider platooned with him until the end of the year.

A good role player can be hard to find, and Snider proved this season that he can take on that responsibility in Pittsburgh. While the Pirates have plenty of young talent that will eventually fill that role, none of those players are at that point right now. This is why Pittsburgh needs to retain Snider. He has established himself as a key player for the team and can continue to hold that position until the next wave of players are ready.

Andrew Lenz is a Blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RealAndyLenz, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.