Bell and Snyder start to hit a bit

Heading into this season, many fans were excited to track the progress of Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder at Triple-A. They could be future cornerstones at the corner infield spots in Baltimore. When they both started slowly, some jumped off their respective bandwagons. And, while no one is hyping anything about their play, both are hitting better recently and improved their stats from April to May, perhaps showing some progress. Both have really picked it up at bat over the last several games. Here is a closer look at both: Bell is batting .270-6-25 on the year in 48 games. He has 14 doubles, among the top ten in the league. His OPS is .748 and his walk to strikeouts ratio is poor at 9 to 50. Fans are watching to see how he hits or doesn't vs. lefty pitchers as a switch-hitter. So far, while he is batting .293 vs. right-handers, he is hitting 7 for 38 (.184) vs. lefties. Before you suggest he should stop switch-hitting, the O's seem content to let him do it all year and then size up the situation. Norfolk has faced very few left-handers, so that is a factor here also. Over his last eight games, Bell is 13 for 29 (.448) with six doubles and six multi-hit games. Bell by month: April: .238-3-10.......661 OPS. May: .297-3-15.......818 OPS. Snyder is batting .236-2-19 over 47 games. He has nine doubles, a .647 OPS and 12 to 43 walks to strikeouts ratio. Over his last nine games, Snyder is 13 for 33 (.394) with five doubles and six RBI. Since Snyder struggled to hit at home last year, here is that breakdown: Home: .202-1-12 Road: .273-1-7 Snyder by month: April: .231-1-8........615 OPS May: .256-1-11......673 OPS I had a chance to talk with Snyder about his hitting a few days ago. If you missed it, here is that story.