Davis Schneider still has John Schneider's backing, but the Blue Jays are not bringing him back until the damage shows up again.
That is the real takeaway from Sportsnet's update on Schneider's Triple-A reset. Toronto sent him to Buffalo near the end of May so he could hunt better pitches to drive and get back to being a real offensive option.
The problem is that the reset has not looked clean in the box score yet. Through 14 games with the Bisons, Schneider is slashing .188/.550/.219, which is one of the strangest lines you will see from a hitter trying to earn a quick return.
The on-base piece is wild. Schneider has walked 24 times in 60 plate appearances, which explains the huge on-base percentage but also underlines the bigger issue. He still is not doing enough when the pitch to hit actually comes.
And Schneider knows it. He said Thursday that he was sent down to “swing a little bit more” and “do a little bit more damage,” but added that pitchers have not given him much to handle over these 2 weeks.
That sounds reasonable on the surface. A hitter should not start chasing junk just to create prettier Triple-A numbers. But Toronto did not option him for walk totals. It optioned him because the bat had gone soft in the majors.
The major-league line is why this still feels urgent. Before the demotion, Schneider hit .127 with a .507 OPS and 1 home run in 38 games for Toronto.
Buffalo is giving Schneider a reset, not a pass
What makes this more interesting is that Schneider is not pretending he has been robbed by the zone. He admitted there were pitches he could handle that he simply missed, saying he was getting under balls, hitting grounders, and feeling all over the place with his swing.
That kind of honesty matters. It tells you the Blue Jays are not waiting on luck to turn. They are waiting on a hitter who can square up his pitch again and stop living almost entirely off takes.
John Schneider made that clear when the outfielder was sent down. The manager said Davis Schneider remains part of the team, but he also framed the move as a way to get him back to what he does well.
There is still value in the walks. A hitter who controls the zone this well is never far from becoming useful again, especially one who already gave Toronto a loud October moment with that leadoff homer in Game 5 of the World Series.
But the Blue Jays need more than patience from that roster spot. If Schneider is going to force his way back into the lineup card, he has to start turning some of those deep counts into extra-base contact instead of just free passes.
For now, Buffalo is serving its purpose. Schneider says it feels like a reset, a place to calm down and get comfortable again. Toronto will take that progress, but the real signal will be simple: when Davis Schneider starts doing damage again, the road back to the Blue Jays gets much shorter.
Should the Blue Jays wait for Davis Schneider's power to return before calling him back up?
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