TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays received a boost from Davis Schneider when he made his major-league debut at Fenway Park earlier this month. Now, the second baseman is doing his best to administer a second dose to a club desperately seeking offence as it chases down a wild-card spot.
The rookie, who earned the nickname “Babe Schneider” from teammates after a historic opening to his MLB career, enjoyed a huge offensive performance on Saturday to lead the Blue Jays to an 8-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians in front of 41,924 at Rogers Centre.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Blue Jays, who remained 1.5 games out of a wild-card spot after Saturday's play.
Schneider, playing in his first game in seven days, launched a 1-1 fastball from Guardians starter Logan Allen over the left-field wall for a two-run home run in the first inning. That gave the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead and in the fourth frame, Schneider helped add to it by opening the inning with a double and then scoring on Matt Chapman’s single up the middle.
The “Babe” also added a walk in the fifth and ripped an RBI single in the seventh to push the score to 6-3.
“That’s a huge spot,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Davis’s first-inning homer. “They scored first and then … [we] come back with a two-out, two-run homer. That's kind of what we've been missing.
“It was a great day,” the manager added. “He was reminiscent of Fenway. Was definitely a spark. We needed that.”
The 24-year-old Schneider was promoted to the Blue Jays on Aug. 4 following a torrid season with the triple-A Bisons and immediately made an impact against the Red Sox in Boston, becoming the first player in MLB history to record nine hits and two home runs in his first three games. Schneider cooled down after that, recording just one hit over his next five games, but now has homers in consecutive contests, even if they are a week apart.
Schneider said he’s been working each day with hitting coach Guillermo Martinez and assistant Hunter Mense on a high-velocity pitch machine in an effort to stay ready for whenever he’s inserted into the lineup.
“You just got to put in the work every day. It's hard, but you just got to make the most of it,” Schneider said. “You want to go out there and try to do your best, even if you're playing every day. But it was pretty cool today to do what I did.”
There were stretches during his six minor-league campaigns when Schneider — who was selected in the 28th round of the 2017 draft by the Blue Jays — was not in the lineup consistently. He said going through that has helped him prepare for the current situation.
“For sure,” said Schneider. “You know what to expect going into it. You know the way your body feels when you haven’t seen many pitches. So, I'm kind of used to it. I wish I was playing, but it’s just the way it is sometimes.”
The Blue Jays have opted to start Schneider, a right-handed hitter, mostly against left-handers and because the club hasn’t faced one since last Saturday in Cincinnati, he hasn’t played. However, with the team expressing a need for more “urgency” over the remaining 32 games, that might need to change. Schneider has shown considerable power in the minors this season and has four homers in 10 MLB games.
And, for what it’s worth, the Blue Jays are 7-2 when he’s in the starting lineup.
John Schneider was asked if it’s been tough to find room for the rookie against right-handers.
“Yes and no,” replied the skipper. “I've been saying for the whole year, ‘We try to find the right spots for everyone,’ and with 32 games left now, performance definitely matters within that equation, as well. So yeah, I mean, it's not too tough when you're doing what he's doing.”
Schneider’s work on Saturday helped support Blue Jays’ starter Hyun Jin Ryu, who pitched well but would’ve had a much cleaner pitching line if not for some errors behind him. Ryu allowed solo homers to Jose Ramirez in the first inning and Tyler Freeman in the fifth but that was the extent of the damage.
The Guardians loaded the bases off Ryu in the sixth inning when Kole Calhoun singled and Ramirez and Oscar Gonzalez reached on back-to-back errors by third baseman Matt Chapman and shortstop Santiago Espinal. Right-hander Yimi Garcia then entered the game and hit the first batter he faced to push across a run, but then struck out the next three Guardians.
That closed the book on Ryu’s outing. The left-hander allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits over five-plus innings with no walks and five strikeouts across 70 pitches. In five starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, the 36-year-old owns a 2.25 ERA and has surrendered just five walks and 19 hits over 24 innings.
His command has returned quickly, something the left-hander expected.
“I'm not really surprised, to be honest,” Ryu said through interpreter Jun Sung Park. “The most important thing is that my body was healthy. I felt healthy, so I was able to do what I needed to do to execute my pitches.”
Ryu rejoined the Blue Jays just before Schneider’s promotion and says he’s been impressed by his contributions.
“He's very effective for our team,” said Ryu. “Ever since he got called up, the first game that he played. Offensively, defensively, even his baserunning. Everything. He's doing really well for the team.”
While Schneider’s been deadly against left-handers during his brief stint in the majors, it’s important to note he’s not exactly a slouch against right-handers. His RBI single in the seventh inning on Saturday came against Guardians righty James Karinchak and in 19 plate appearances against such pitchers, Schneider has recorded six hits and three walks. As well, Schneider tallied 17 home runs and a 1.070 OPS against right-handed pitchers across 82 games at triple-A this season.
The Blue Jays will now look to take the rubber match of the three-game series on Sunday and with right-hander Noah Syndergaard slated to start for the Guardians, an obvious question needed to be asked.
Will Schneider be in the starting lineup?
"Yep," John Schneider said with a smile.
