Jeff Snelling Indianapolis

snelling returns to coca-cola park...

Welcome to the Hog Blog, a blog chronicling the return of affiliated minor-league baseball to the Lehigh Valley after am absence of nearly 50 years. Jeff Schuler , The Morning Call's IronPigs beat writer, is a Lehigh Valley native and has been with The Morning Call since 1987, covering a variety of high school, collegiate and pro sports during his tenure. Jeff's interest in minor-league baseball dates to the early 1970s when he saw the likes of Larry Bowa, Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski at Reading's Municipal Stadium, and he has been keeping an eye on the minors for the newspaper since 1992.

We didn't see all that much of Chris Snelling last year, although I wish we would've because I have a feeling he'd be a fun guy to be around when things are going well for him -- which, sadly, hasn't been that often during his career.

The 27-year-old outfielder, a career .305 hitter in the minors, was on the IronPIgs Opening Day roster after being one of the final cuts by the Phillies. But the snake-bit Snelling suffered through yet another injury-plagued year, appearing in only 35 games and hitting only .229 with a homer and eight RBIs in 96 at-bats.

Snelling began this year playing south of the border in Monterrey, Mexico, on loan from San Diego. He's now with Indianapolis after the Padres traded him to Pittsburgh on June 10, and made his eight start for the Indians Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Park.

"I can't complain; I'm healthy," said Snelling, and that in itself is a major accomplishment for the Australian native. Snelling has played more than 80 games in a season just twice in his first 10 seasons, and has played just 79 games combined the last two seasons.

This year, however, he played in 49 games with Monterrey hitting .324 with five homers and 29 RBIs in 179 at-bats, before being traded. He entered Tuesday's game hitting .200 (5-for-25) in nine games for the Indians.

"I probably feel the best I have in years," said Snelling."I don't have any answer why, I just feel good."

Snelling signed with the Padres after hitting .273 (3-for-11, two homers in three games) for Australia in the World Baseball Classic but found out almost immediately he'd be heading to Mexico.

"The first day I got there they asked me go to Mexico," Snelling said. "They had nowhere to send me; all their rosters were set.

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