When Davis Schneider was sent down to triple-A Buffalo near the end of May, the idea was to have him look at more pitches that he could swing at with confidence before returning to the big-league club and contribute in a more meaningful way.
“He’s a part of our team, and he’ll continue to be a part of our team,” Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider said when Davis Schneider was sent down. “You trust him and just want him to get back to doing what he’s good at.”
After a memorable post-season that saw him hit .200/.333/.400 and smash a leadoff home run in Game 5 of World Series off Blake Snell, Schneider was given a more prominent role with the Blue Jays to start this season, but he struggled with an OPS of .507 to go along with a dismal .127 batting average and just one home run in 38 games (89 plate appearances).
Schneider needed a confidence boost, but through 14 games played with the Bisons, he hasn’t got it yet — at least in the traditional sense.
The 27-year-old is slashing.188/.550/.219 in triple-A, suggesting that while he isn’t hitting the ball much down there, he’s drawing a lot of walks.
To be exact, of the 60 plate appearances he’s made so far for Buffalo this season, Schneider has walked 24 times.
“I got sent down so I can swing a little bit more and try to do a little bit more damage,” Schneider said Thursday on Jays Talk Plus. “But when it comes to being part of my game I’m still not going to swing at pitches I know I can’t handle, so I’m going to take what the pitcher gives me and (over) these two weeks the pitcher hasn’t really given me too much to hit. So I’ve been walking a little bit more than I wanted to, but, you know, gotta get on base somehow.”
Added Schneider: “I’ll take my walk every single day, every single time, so the frustration (comes) from trying to work on my swing and not really getting that opportunity sometimes.”
Schneider did admit he’s seen pitches he knows he can handle, but just hasn’t capitalized.
“There were some times when I was getting that pitch and I was just missing it, and that’s why I was struggling a little bit,” Schneider said. “I wasn’t doing damage on balls I could really handle. I was kind of getting under, I was kind of in between with what I was doing with my swing, I was on top of it, I was hitting ground balls. So I was kind of all over the place when it came to missing my pitch.
“But being back in Buffalo is kind of like a reset. I can calm myself a little bit and work on some things and be a little bit more comfortable.”
It’s unclear when the Blue Jays can expect Schneider’s return, but it would appear he still has some work to do.
In the meantime, after the returns of Dylan Cease and Max Scherzer to the major-league club after both spent time on the injured list, Shane Bieber will make his second start with Buffalo Thursday as they the Bisons host the Syracuse Mets.
Blue Jays all-star catcher Alejandro Kirk is also expected to play Thursday in Buffalo before potentially returning to the Blue Jays Friday as they open a three-game series with the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre.
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