Top pick Snyder ready for next step

NILES -- Under a hot afternoon sun Tuesday at Cafaro Field, Brad Snyder ran sprints on the warning track.
He breathed the fresh air. He sweated. He stretched. And he did all of this thinking of one thing: It's time to play baseball again.
"This is a relaxing atmosphere out here," said Snyder, 21, who will begin his professional career with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. "It's just baseball all day. I don't have to worry about anything else but baseball. This is my job now."
The Cleveland Indians selected two first-round players in the June draft.
Snyder, an outfielder, was one of them. Michael Aubrey, a first baseman assigned to Lake County, was the other.
"I don't feel too much pressure" being a first-round pick, Snyder said. "I feel that I've proven to everybody that I deserved to be a No. 1 pick."
Snyder, a native of Bellevue, was taken by the Indians after an outstanding junior season at Ball State University. He batted .405 for the Cardinals, leading the Mid-American Conference in doubles, walks, total bases and slugging percentage.
At season's end, the MAC selected him as its player of the year.
"I figured that if I had a good year, I would give myself an opportunity to be a high draft pick," said Snyder, who was the fourth first-round draft pick in Ball State history.
"I feel ready to play -- physically and mentally," he added. "I had the opportunity and I got drafted high enough to let me start my dream."
Game time
Snyder has been at Mahoning Valley since late last week, but the Indians have yet to put him in the Scrappers' lineup. That may come Friday, Snyder estimates, when the Scrappers conclude a three-game series at Hudson Valley.
"I'm just conditioning every day, getting my body in playing shape," Snyder said. "They're easing me back into it, but I feel like I'm ready. When I get my name called, I'm ready to do business."
After Snyder was drafted by the Indians, he was able to spend time with family and friends back home while he prepared for professional baseball.
"The feeling is indescribable," Snyder said of the draft-day experience. "I heard the phone ring, and I got chills. I've been watching the Indians my whole life."
In that period, he also signed a contract with the Indians that included a $1.5 million bonus.
"That wasn't a big deal to me, as long as it was fair. We got it knocked out quickly," Snyder said of the deal.
"The Indians are good about that. They treat people right."
Overcoming adversity
Snyder's entrance into professional baseball doesn't come without a greater appreciation for his talents and opportunities.
In June 2001, at the conclusion of his freshman season at Ball State, Snyder was injured in a car accident. He was a passenger in a car driven by his co-worker.
Their car ran a red light and was struck on Snyder's side by another vehicle. He broke his right hand and his left ankle, and the big toe on his right foot was nearly severed.
Snyder wasn't able to return to baseball until February 2002.
"Rehab was real slow, but the injuries I had were not too serious. They didn't affect the main muscles," Snyder said.
Snyder labeled that accident a good experience.
"That time off made me think how close you can come to losing it all," he said.
Now, a healthy Snyder has moved ever so close to his professional debut, which will come with the Scrappers.
"We're looking forward to seeing you play," he was told.
The response was automatic.
"I can't wait to get out there," he said.
XBrian Richesson is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at richesson@vindy.com.