Rays Pitching Coach Kyle Snyder Gets Plenty of Praise From His Troops
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The Tampa Bay Rays are on a late-spring surge, and while most of the noise and fireworks are coming from the offense, what's happening on the mound cannot be ignored.
The starters for the Rays are the definition of durable, ranking second in the league with 439 1/3 innings pitched. The bullpen's 3.29 ERA is the third-best in baseball.
The success is coming from behind the scenes, in large part thanks to a man who has consistently produced an elite pitching staff — Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder.
Snyder has been the pitching coach for the Rays since 2018. Since then, Tampa Bay's starting rotation has possessed a top-10 earned run average six times and a top-5 ERA three times.
Through the ups and downs of a long season, the confidence Snyder instills in his pitchers remains steadfast.
"He's just got a good presence about him that makes a lot of guys comfortable," Rays right-hander Shane Baz said. "I think he's the best in the business, and I'm not just saying that."
Baz is off to a strong start with a 7-3 record, tied for the eighth-best mark in the league. Lately, he joins fellow starters Taj Bradley and Drew Rasmussen in implementing new pitches in his arsenal, a process made easier by Snyder.
"He's helped me so many different times with so many different types of things, whether it's mechanics or pitch design or pitch usage in-game or mindset or objective stuff," Baz said. "It seems like he always knows what to tell me, and I'm really grateful that I have him as a coach, and, yeah, I listen to him every chance I get."
Snyder's impact was significant in Tampa Bay's record-setting 12-8 comeback win over the Baltimore Orioles last Wednesday. The Rays — who were down 8-0 — received a monster outing from their bullpen over 7 2/3 innings, shutting down the Orioles batting order as Tampa Bay's offense came alive.
Rays southpaw Mason Montgomery was one of six pitchers to stave off Baltimore's offense on Wednesday, earning him his first win of the season in the epic contest. The next day, Montgomery emphasized Snyder's impact.
"It's a big deal, and not only does he instill confidence in us, but we are able to grow that confidence within ourselves," Montgomery said. "He always talks about, 'Hey, you are really good, so just go out there and throw strike one, throw strike two, and expand.
"And that's what we do."
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Don Strouble is a sports journalist who covers Tampa Bay Rays baseball and other sports for the ‘’On SI’’ network. He is a Northeast Ohio native and currently lives in Orlando, Fla.
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