There was a pretty odd story that occurred at the end of last week. Pirates young pitcher Ian Snell was sent down to Triple-A at his request. Snell said he needed a change of scenery to get away from the negativity in Pittsburgh:
His explanation basically came down to this: He sought a more positive environment: “Too much negativity. I want to be a positive person if I’m going to be here. I felt like I was going to be negative if I was going to be here, and I didn’t want to ruin this team.” He was asked to explain who actually made the call that he would go down: “I wasn’t going to allow them to say what they want. I told them I wanted to go down. It’s best for the team.”
We’ve known for a while that Snell was never a big fan of the city of Pittsburgh, and I’m sure five straight losing seasons doesn’t help his view of the team in general. Though he comes across as a whiny, soft, head case, I actually feel for the guy. When you’re a pitcher, it starts to wear on you if you’re on a crap team that doesn’t provide run support. You then begin to alter your game, trying to be too fine with your pitches knowing that allowing a couple of runs early means you’re taking the loss. I’m sure it also doesn’t help your confidence every time you see the team trade away one of its better hitters (see Bay, Jason; McLouth, Nate).
Snell is not damaged goods — he just needs a fresh start. I think his 17 strikeout game against the Toledo Mud Hens (I guess Lou Brown wasn’t managing) proves the guy still has something even if Toledo’s stunk this year. Snell’s trying to get himself traded and I don’t blame him. For his sake, I hope he gets a new start so he can maximize his career. He’s nothing special, but the guy can be an average or slightly above average pitcher in the right situation.
