Blue Jays rework infield picture by optioning Davis Schneider to Triple-A

While the Toronto Blue Jays are off today, they were staring down the barrel of a roster decision on Friday when Nathan Lukes returned from the paternity list.

We now know what that decision is.

On Thursday, the team announced that it had demoted Davis Schneider to Triple-A Buffalo after a rough start to the season. While the team didn't announce a corresponding move since it's an off-day, his roster spot will likely go to Lukes on Friday.

Blue Jays rework infield picture by optioning Davis Schneider to Triple-A

The demotion closes out what's been a nightmare first three week of the season for the 26-year-old. Schneider has gone just 1-for-15 to start the season with an RBI and two runs scored.

While he's be in the top percentile in chase rate and walk rate if he had enough at-bats to qualify for Baseball Savant's leaderboards, he'd also be in the bottom 10th percentile in expected batting average, expected slugging, hard-hit rate and sweet spot rate.

Schneider broke into the league on a tear by hitting eight home runs in his first 35 games in 2023, but the past year and change have been an absolute disaster.

He's now hitting .187 across 145 games over the past two seasons with 13 home runs and 47 RBI. He has an OPS+ of 76 across that time frame.

His role on the roster will now be filled by Addison Barger, who was recalled from Triple-A earlier this week in response to Lukes going on the paternity list.

While Barger's gone 0-for-7 to start the season, he can play at third base, shortstop, left field and right field, while Schneider can only play at left field and second base.

And, with Andrés Giménez playing well at second, Schneider was stuck playing mostly in left field. And it's not like there was a ton of playing time for him there either considering the Blue Jays outfield has been productive (Toronto's outfielders have a wRC+ of 120 this year).

Lukes will join Myles Straw in a platoon for the fourth outfielder spot, so Barger will likely see a lot of hims time on the infield.

Schneider's 2023 season proved that he can be a quality MLB player, but he's struggled to build on that performance in the time since. The Blue Jays are in the midst of a quality start in the cutthroat American League East, so every roster spot matters.

While we'll likely see Schneider back with the Blue Jays at some point this year, he'll be spending his time in Buffalo for the time being.