Blue Jays manager says the team has the right approach to play deep into October

All season long, the Toronto Blue Jays have used a contact-first mentality in their offensive approach. It's an approach that has carried them to the top of the American League and in contention to win their first AL East division title since 2015. But is it an approach that can carry them deep into October baseball? Manager John Schneider thinks, and hopes so.

Schneider was a recent guest on The Windup podcast with MLB insider Jayson Stark of The Athletic and former MLB player and current analyst Doug Glanville. Schneider says this approach first started when the Blue Jays hired David Popkins during the offseason.

"He said he wanted to be the most creative offense in baseball," says Schneider. "We've always had guys that can put the ball in play and control the zone and you also have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. Surrounding those guys with guys that can make contact was appealing to us this season."

The Blue Jays contact rates are up above the board this year. Core players including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and George Springer have all bought in and are putting up some of the best contact numbers of their careers. As a team, they have the fewest strikeouts in the league sitting at 865 (entering Aug. 22 game) and the highest batting average of .267. Schneider says it's not just the core guys, but also the 'role players' who are following that philosophy.

"You look at the under-the-radar guys, Myles Straw, Tyler Heineman, Nathan Lukes, these guys know what they are good at and what we are asking them to do day-in-and-day-out. It was really that series against Texas where we kind of knew what we had," says Schneider pointing the the games in May against the Rangers in which Bichette came through with a pinch hit go ahead home run in the ninth.

"From that point we got rolling. I wouldn't say that was a turning point but it got us moving in the right direction. It's been fun to see the supporting cast have the seasons they are having. Addison Barger has been fun to watch, we saw him in years past as a guy who always had this kind of potential, but he's been stepping in and really picking up his production."

Schneider says it comes down to the fact that the Blue Jays feel like they are capable of winning every single game, supported by their MLB leading 39 comeback wins. "They have leaned into the fact that we are never out of a game, we are going to keep making contact. We have daily conversations about using our skills appropriately, leaning into base running, leaning into run prevention when you do get a lead. It's cool to watch it unfold, even though it has taken a while with the core group of guys that have been here, but we are really hitting the sweet spot of what we envisioned."

Schneider says keeping up this kind of production is going to be incredibly important the deeper into the season they get. He says there is a real connection between putting the ball in play and success in October.

"We just saw it happen in real time when we played the LA Dodgers. They have some pitchers that have some serious stuff and your contact skills are going to get put to the test against that caliber of pitcher every single night as you get deeper into the season and as the post season comes," says Schneider, reflecting on their series in which they saw Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell, and Tyler Glasnow in the three game series.

"We've seen it in years past when you're facing everyone's number one guys and runs are at a premium and by putting the ball in play it puts pressure on the defense and it allows you to get creative," says Schneider.

Schneider adds it's not just enough to have guys that can make contact, you also need someone that can step up and go deep every once in a while. "We have some of those guys to. You can't just paper cut the other teams to death, you have to be able to provide some damage to and thankfully we have a unique blend of both."

The Blue Jays are 13th in MLB in home runs this season with 151. While the only other current playoff teams with less home runs are the Astros (139) and the Brewers (136) the Blue Jays top the league with 1168 hits overall.