FINAL GRADES: Collin Snider Has New Lease on Career With Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners have a lot of decisions to make for 2025.
Not only does the team have several position players up for arbitration who could end up non-tendered, they have several relievers who could also go without an offer.
One of those relievers is Collin Snider, who's up for pre-arbitration in 2025.
But based on the season he's had, Snider likely doesn't have to worry about going anywhere anytime soon.
Before 2024, Snider looked to be nearing the end of his rope as a major leaguer. He had made 62 combined appearances in 2022 and 2023 with the Kansas City Royals and posted ERAs of 6.55 and 4.87.
The Royals designated him for assignment on Dec. 11. He was claimed off waivers on Dec. 18 by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who also DFA'd one month later on Jan. 20.
Snider was claimed by Seattle off waivers on Feb. 6. And now it looks like Snider has a new lease on his career.
Collin Snider by the numbers
Pitching stats: 1.94 ERA, 42 appearances, 3-4 record, 41.2 innings pitched, 47 strikeouts, 1.18 WHIP, .231 opp. BA, 0.9 WAR
Advanced pitching stats: 3.97 xERA, .257 xBA, 30.1% Chase, 30.2% Whiff, 3.41 FIP, 10.15 K/9, 83.3% LOB
What I liked
Snider and Munoz were one of the few consistent pieces for the Mariners bullpen this year. Munoz started the year as the undisputed closer for Seattle. But Snider had to fight through a couple set backs to claim his end-of-season role as a high-leverage arm.
Snider spent the first two months of the season either on the 15-day injured list, in Triple-A Tacoma or on the temporarily restricted list.
But once Snider was recalled on June 25, he quickly cemented his spot as a high-leverage arm out of the bullpen.
Snider has a four-pitch arsenal of a four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker and sweeper according to Baseball Savant.
Snider's cutter was the least effective of his throws, with opponents averaging .333 of 10 pitches.
Every other pitch got the job done. Hitters didn't average better than .227 against Snider's other three pitches.
Collin Snider pitched really well for the Seattle Mariners this season.
— MLB Hall of Pretty Good Podcast (@hallofgoodpod) October 3, 2024
41.2 innings pitched
1.94 ERA
190 ERA+
10.2 K’s per 9
1.13 ERA on the road pic.twitter.com/GrVq0tXCt9
Snider simplified his arsenal in 2024 and it paid dividends. The third-year pro also had a changeup and slider to go to the last two years of his career. He dropped those two throws in 2024.
As the phrase goes, "less is more."
With Snider's simplified approach, he became the Mariners' eighth-inning reliever (sometimes late-seventh inning reliever depending on what jam the team was facing).
Best game
It's already difficult with relievers to pick out one best game in a season full of outings and different scenarios.
It's even harder when that reliever isn't the closer.
In Snider's case, probably the best example of the trust he earned from the team came, unfortunately, in a loss.
In a 2-1 defeat to the New York Yankees on Sept. 18, Snider pitched two innings. The move was made to preserve several relievers for the rest of the last 11 days of the season. It also helped give several bullpen arms an extra day of rest after being heavily used.
Snider allowed one run (unearned) off one hit in his two innings against the Yankees. He struck out three batters and gave up no free bases. It was his longest appearance of the season.
Future prospects
As mentioned before, Snider is up for pre-arbitration in 2025. And the chances of him getting non-tendered are slim to none.
Snider, Munoz and Troy Taylor will make up a back end of a bullpen that will also feature a (hopefully) healthy Gregory Santos and Matt Brash, who's set to return in June or July from Tommy John surgery.
Snider's stellar season and 2024 rookie Troy Taylor's solid second-half stretch gives Seattle a healthy share of high-leverage arms.
And considering the Mariners' bullpen struggles in close games last season, that will be a welcome development.
Final grade: B
Snider continues the trend of pitchers receiving at least a "B" in our final grade series.
Snider took a while to find his footing, which dinged his ranking a bit. He also relied on defense a lot.
There's a 1.47 difference between Snider's ERA (1.94) and FIP (3.41). He also had an 83.3% left on base percentage.
A lot of Snider's left on base numbers were inflated due to inheriting runners. But the FIP and ERA difference is significant enough to acknowledge that the defense played a major role in Snider's success.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. As long as teams aren't scoring when Snider is on the mound, Seattle doesn't care how it's done.
Snider's career has new life in the Pacific Northwest.
And if the bullpen bounces back in 2025, Snider will likely be a significant reason why.
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