Amid prolonged slump, Schneider aims to take control again

CHICAGO -- Davis Schneider is searching for how this all felt one year ago.

A folk hero was born over three days and nine hits in Boston last August. So much of baseball’s allure lies in its ability to surprise you, and there he was, the 28th-round Draft pick who was built like a fire hydrant, his moustache and glasses completing the character that Blue Jays fans immediately fell in love with.

Schneider carried this right into 2024 and was productive through April and May, sliding back and forth from left field to second base, but something has changed since then. Saturday’s 0-for-3 outing in the Blue Jays’ rain-delayed 3-2 loss to the Cubs at Wrigley Field dropped Schneider’s average to .165 with a .486 OPS since June 1.

“Lately, it’s like I’m going up there and just being like, '[expletive], man, this is tough,'” Schneider said. “That’s baseball. I’ve just got to keep working at it.”

That part shouldn’t be difficult.

Schneider wasn’t a top prospect. He was the player who moved around to make room for top prospects. Schneider earned every inch of his climb through the Minor Leagues, which gave him an intimate knowledge of his own game. Too often, a highly ranked prospect will fly through the Minors and be dazed when struggles finally find them in the big leagues for the very first time.

The Blue Jays would like to see more aggression from Schneider, particularly when he sees an opening to take a shot at pulling the ball in the air. Think of Danny Jansen, who leaned into that approach and benefited from it greatly in his time with the Blue Jays. High fastballs were once the way to attack Schneider, but now, his manager sees pitchers challenging the 25-year-old more from side to side -- particularly right-handers, who are keeping the ball breaking away from him.

“He’s missing his pitches, really,” manager John Schneider said. “The pitches he was hammering early in the year, and last year, he’s not hitting. He’s kind of caught in-between right now. He’s taking some pitches that, last year, he was hammering. When he’s swinging at them, he’s not quite clipping them.”

With this, Davis Schneider’s playing time has taken a small step back. He’s started eight of the Blue Jays’ 14 games in August, now battling for playing time in a crowded young lineup as the organization turns its head to 2025.

Joey Loperfido will get plenty of looks in left field down the stretch, and after Spencer Horwitz pinch-hit for Schneider in the eighth, that’s who finished the game in left on Saturday. The same could go for Jonatan Clase, the Blue Jays’ No. 6 prospect who came over from Seattle in the Yimi García deal. At second base, Will Wagner is having his own 2024 Davis Schneider moment, red hot out of the gate and earning a long look himself.

Schneider will still get his playing time -- and he absolutely should -- but the realities around him have changed drastically over the past few weeks.

“I feel like I deserve to be here,” Schneider said. “I feel like I showed I can handle it. It’s a matter of how long these slumps last. I feel like that’s makes good hitters good hitters. Everyone goes through slumps. It’s a matter of how long it is.

“I’m not playing well. I know that. It’s just a matter of working hard and trying to get back to where I was.”

Schneider has felt like these days are “hit or miss” for him. So much of this is about his confidence, he says, but everything needs to come together at the same time. This isn’t the time to overhaul a swing or bat from the left side.

“It’s definitely, in part, mechanically,” Schneider said. “There are some balls I shouldn’t be missing. They’re right down the middle or pitches I can handle. It’s about approach, too. I’m swinging at balls I shouldn’t be swinging at. I feel like I try and do a little too much when I’m up there. I just have to go back to what I’m good at, which is seeing pitches, working the counts and swinging at pitches I know I can handle, too.”

These moments come for everyone, especially at this juncture in a career, as pitchers adjust to a hitter’s early success. Schneider landed the first punch when he kicked the door down in 2023. Pitchers have landed theirs now, over and over, so it’s Schneider’s turn to take control again with another meaningful stretch run.