Collin Snider Bio
Collin Kenneth Snider (born October 10, 1995) is an American professional baseball pitcher currently in the Chicago Cubs organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Mariners. After a successful amateur career at Riverdale High School and Vanderbilt University, he was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2017. Snider made his MLB debut with the Royals in 2022 and has built a reputation around his sinker and a willingness to rework his pitch mix to fit a new role.
Collin Snider Early Life and Background
Snider grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he attended Riverdale High School and pitched for four years on the school team. His squad was a district and regional champion in 2012, 2013, and 2014, giving him a steady taste of winning baseball from a young age. In 2014, he even threw a perfect game, a sign of the control and command that would later define his professional profile.
Snider came from an athletic family. His parents, Jerry and Cheri Snider, raised him alongside siblings Danielle, Spencer, Andrew, and Zachary, all of whom were involved in sports. His mother, Cheri Snider, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2021, a moment that the pitcher has spoken about as a grounding experience in his career.
Path to Professional Baseball
Snider played three seasons of college baseball at Vanderbilt University, working as a reliever for the Commodores. Over that stretch, he posted a 7–2 record with a 3.62 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 87 innings pitched. His college teammates included future MLB All-Stars Walker Buehler, Bryan Reynolds, and Dansby Swanson, which gave him a daily view of what an elite baseball career looked like up close.
Vanderbilt coaches praised Snider’s sinker, calling it "disgusting" and a "unicorn" because of how difficult it was for opposing hitters to lift into the air. After his second year in college in 2016, he extended his development with the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Kansas City Royals selected him in the 12th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft, launching his professional career.
Collin Snider Career
Early Career (2017–2021)
Snider debuted professionally in June 2017 with the rookie-level Burlington Royals and moved up to Single-A Lexington in August, finishing his first summer with a 3.21 ERA across 17 appearances between the two clubs. He returned to Lexington in 2018, when he struck out 50 batters in 76 innings over 29 games, and then split the 2019 season between the Arizona League Royals and the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks, posting a 2.24 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 31 games.
Snider did not pitch in a game in 2020 after the minor league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he spent that year training at his former high school and college in Tennessee. In 2021, he pitched for the Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, recording a 4.48 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 66⅓ innings across 48 total appearances. After the season, the Royals added him to their 40-man roster on November 19.
Kansas City Royals (2022–2023)
Snider made the Royals 2022 Opening Day roster and opened his MLB career with a scoreless tenth inning that produced his first MLB win and strikeout, with 11 family members in the stands. He spent most of the year in the big-league bullpen, making 42 appearances and finishing his rookie campaign with a 4–2 record and 6.55 ERA in 34⅓ innings. A two-month Triple-A stint in mid-June gave him a chance to reset before he returned to the Royals on August 20.
He began 2023 in Triple-A Omaha, returned to Kansas City for the first two weeks of July, and rejoined the club near the end of August. In 30 appearances for the Royals, he posted a 4.87 ERA with 11 strikeouts across 20⅓ innings. On December 11, 2023, the Royals designated Snider for assignment to make room for reliever Will Smith on their roster.
Seattle Mariners (2024–2025)
After a brief waiver claim by the Arizona Diamondbacks in December 2023, Snider landed with the Seattle Mariners on February 6, 2024. He pitched much better in Seattle, going 3–4 with a 1.94 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 41⅔ innings. A knee contusion sent him to the injured list in early April, but he returned to the majors in June and refined his approach along the way, trading his Royals-era sinker-and-slider mix for a four-seam fastball and sweeper, with his cutter remaining his third most common pitch.
Snider was exceptional at throwing first-pitch strikes in 2024, starting with a strike to 73 percent of the batters he faced. That figure ranked second among MLB pitchers who logged at least 40 innings and stood among the top 10 single-season marks since at least 2002. In 2025, he made 24 appearances for Seattle, going 2–1 with a 5.47 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26⅓ innings, before being designated for assignment on July 30 after the Mariners acquired Caleb Ferguson. He cleared waivers, was outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma on August 3, and elected free agency on November 6.
Chicago Cubs Era (2025–Present)
On December 11, 2025, Snider signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs, opening a new chapter in his career. The move gave him a fresh opportunity to compete for a bullpen role, build on his recent experience as a high-strike pitcher, and re-establish himself in a new organization. His track record of throwing strikes and adjusting his pitch mix made him an intriguing low-cost addition for the Cubs.
Driving Style and Strengths
Snider’s identity as a pitcher has long revolved around his sinker, a pitch that Vanderbilt coaches once called a "unicorn" because of how hard it was for hitters to elevate. With Seattle, he added a four-seam fastball and sweeper, showing he can change his arsenal when the situation calls for it, while his cutter continued to give him a third look. He is also an elite strike-thrower, ranking near the top of MLB in first-pitch strikes during the 2024 season.
Notable Events and Milestones
Snider’s first MLB win in 2022 came in front of 11 family members and marked the high point of his Royals debut. He added a strong Mariners tenure in 2024, where his 1.94 ERA and 73 percent first-pitch strike rate were signature milestones, and he hit free agency in 2025 before quickly landing with the Cubs in December.
Collin Snider Career Wins
Snider has built a résumé as a steady relief pitcher across multiple organizations, posting a 9–7 career record with a 4.48 ERA and 104 strikeouts through the 2025 season. He has earned wins in the majors with both Kansas City and Seattle, and his first MLB victory remains one of the most meaningful nights of his career.
Major League Highlights
Snider’s biggest win came in his Royals debut in 2022, when he delivered a scoreless tenth inning to pick up his first MLB decision with his family watching. He added several more wins in 2022 on his way to a 4–2 rookie record and continued to collect decisions in Seattle, including a strong 3–4 line in 2024. His most recent MLB win came during his 2025 stint with the Mariners before his July 30 designation for assignment.
Other Wins and Performances
Snider earned a 2.24 ERA across the Arizona League Royals and Wilmington Blue Rocks in 2019, his strongest minor league season, and posted a 3.21 ERA in his 2017 pro debut. His college record at Vanderbilt stood at 7–2 with a 3.62 ERA, and he was a district and regional champion at Riverdale High School from 2012 to 2014, where he once threw a perfect game.
Collin Snider Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Snider grew up in an athletic household in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, with parents Jerry and Cheri Snider and siblings Danielle, Spencer, Andrew, and Zachary. The family has supported his career throughout, and 11 family members attended his MLB debut. He married his high school sweetheart, Rachel Snider, in 2019, and the couple share a golden retriever named Jax.
Personal Life
Snider married Rachel Snider in 2019 after the two dated back to high school. In college, he said his favorite team was the Atlanta Braves and his favorite player was David Price, a fellow Murfreesboro native and Vanderbilt alum. He also has spoken about his late Vanderbilt teammate Donny Everett, who drowned in 2016, and has Everett’s initials and number stitched on his baseball glove.
2025 Season Performance
Snider entered 2025 on the Mariners’ Opening Day roster and made 24 appearances before being designated for assignment on July 30, going 2–1 with a 5.47 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26⅓ innings. The acquisition of reliever Caleb Ferguson ended his time in the Seattle bullpen, and he cleared waivers before being outrighted to Triple-A Tacoma on August 3. He elected free agency on November 6, closing the book on a turbulent but productive season.
His 2025 results stood in stark contrast to his 2024 form, when he had a 1.94 ERA and ranked near the top of MLB in first-pitch strikes. Even so, his strike-throwing profile and willingness to adjust his pitch mix kept him in demand. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs on December 11, giving him a new path back to the majors in 2026.
