Christopher Ryan Snyder (born February 12, 1981) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, the Houston Astros and the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. He bats and throws right-handed.

High school and college

Snyder attended

Spring Woods High School Spring Woods High School is a secondary school in Spring Branch, Houston, Texas, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is operated by Spring Branch Independent School District. Spring Woods serves several neighborhoods, inclu ...

and the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

. In , Snyder started every game and hit .316; he also led the team in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, hits, doubles,

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and hit by pitches. He was named All-Conference USA second team and also played for

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

hitting 1 home run and having 9 RBIs. In , he hit .348 with 15 home runs and 70 RBIs and was named to the All-Tournament Team in the Conference USA Tournament. Snyder had been drafted by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in the 1999 Major League Baseball draft, but chose to attend college. He was drafted by the

in the 2nd round of the

2002 Major League Baseball draft The 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 4 and 5. It is featured in Michael Lewis' 2003 book ''Moneyball''. First round selections Supplemental first round compensation selections * * ...

Career

Arizona Diamondbacks

Minor leagues

Snyder began his professional career with the High-A

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

and hit .258 with 9 home runs and 44 RBIs. He began with Lancaster again and was promoted to Double-A

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

after hitting .314 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs. He began with El Paso and hit .301 with 15 home runs and 57 RBIs and was promoted to the major league team.

Major leagues

Snyder was called up to the majors and made his debut on August 21, . In his first game, he went 2–3 with a double. In only 96 at-bats in the majors in 2004, he hit 5 home runs. In , he was the starting catcher, but struggled offensively as he hit only .202. He was strong defensively though, with a fielding percentage of .997. Before the season, the D-Backs traded for All-Star catcher

Johnny Estrada Johnny Pulado Estrada III (born June 27, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, and Washington N ...

from the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, making Snyder the backup. In 61 games, Snyder hit .277 with a .995 fielding percentage and threw out 45% of would-be base stealers. After the 2006 season, Estrada was traded to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

and Snyder shared time behind the plate with rookie

Miguel Montero Miguel Angel Montero Fernandez (born July 9, 1983) is a Venezuelan-American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, and Washington Nationals ...

. In , he hit .252 with a .999 fielding percentage and threw out 36% of would-be base stealers. In , he set career highs in home runs (16) and RBIs (64) and also had a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000. On December 30, 2008, Snyder and the D-Backs agreed on a three-year contract extension with an option for a fourth year. Before the 2010 season Snyder was almost traded to the Blue Jays for former Diamondback

Lyle Overbay Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankee ...

but the Jays questioned Snyder's back problems and nixed the trade. Chris Snyder on May 30, 2011

Pittsburgh Pirates

On July 31, it was announced that Snyder and minor leaguer Pedro Ciriaco were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for D. J. Carrasco,

Ryan Church Ryan Matthew Church (born October 14, 1978) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. He played for the Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Career Minors Drafte ...

and

Bobby Crosby Robert Edward Crosby (born January 12, 1980) is an American former professional baseball infielder and current coach. He played in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Arizona Diamondbacks. The son of former ...

. He began the 2011 season with the Pirates' Single A affiliate, the

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the ...

, on a rehab assignment for back pains he experienced during spring training. In two games with Bradenton, Snyder had gone 5-for-6 with seven RBI, two doubles and a home run. Chris Snyder 2013

Houston Astros

Snyder signed with the Houston Astros for 2012. After 1 season with the team, the Astros declined his 2013 option on October 31, making him a free agent.

Washington Nationals

Snyder signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

on February 5, 2013. The Nationals released him on March 18.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On March 18, 2013, Snyder signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

with an invitation to spring training.

Baltimore Orioles

Snyder was traded to the

on April 28, 2013 for minor league pitcher

Rob Delaney Rob Delaney (born January 19, 1977) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and activist. He was the co-star and co-writer of the TV show ''Catastrophe'', and has appeared in comedy films such as ''Deadpool 2'' (2018) and ''Tom & Jerry'' (2021). ...

, He was designated for assignment on June 4, and assigned to the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

on June 8.

Return to Washington Nationals

On December 21, 2013, Snyder signed a minor league deal with the

that included an invitation to spring training. He was released on March 24, 2014.

Texas Rangers

Snyder signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on March 25, 2014. Snyder retired on April 19, 2014.Backup catching option Chris Snyder retires

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Chris Living people 1981 births Arizona Diamondbacks players Pittsburgh Pirates players Houston Astros players Baltimore Orioles players Houston Cougars baseball players Bradenton Marauders players Lancaster JetHawks players El Paso Diablos players Visalia Oaks players Reno Aces players Visalia Rawhide players Norfolk Tides players Salt Lake Bees players Round Rock Express players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Houston