Blue Jays continue to reap rewards of starting Davis Schneider on offense and defense

Sometimes, to produce the right winning formula in Major League Baseball, knowing which players should be playing more and which should be sitting could ultimately make a huge difference in the overall success of a team. In the case for the Toronto Blue Jays, that would mean letting Davis Schneider start more often.

Why is that the case? Well, much is known about what Schneider can provide with his power bat. After all, he took the baseball world by storm with his record-breaking MLB debut last season. This year, he has continued to do some solid damage at the plate, coming up with some key at-bats when the Jays needed it the most. Back on April 2nd, it was Schneider who provided the late-inning heroics with his two-out, two-run homer to help the Jays come back to beat the Houston Astros 2-1 after getting no-hit just the previous day.

On April 8th, with the Jays notorious for coming up empty when having the bases loaded, Schneider actually delivered with a key base hit to propel the Jays to a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners. Finally, on April 13th, he showed his great patience and plate discipline to work a 1-2 count into a two-out, bases-loaded walk that ended up opening the floodgates to four more runs as the Jays top the Colorado Rockies 5-3. No matter the time and situation, Schneider just gets the job done. On the season, he sports a .725 OPS along with 6 runs scored, a pair of home runs and 8 RBI in just 37 at-bats.

But on top of what Schneider can bring to the team with his solid hitting, he has shown another element of his game this year that is becoming a game-changer for the Jays. That element is his surprising defensive acumen in the field. He gave already a brief glimpse of what he can do this spring with this amazing play.

On Tuesday night, he managed to top that with this spectacular diving catch to rob New York Yankees’ first baseman Anthony Rizzo of extra bases. The Yankees were threatening to score at the time with Rizzo representing the tying run. The game-saving play kept the Jays ahead, which they eventually would go on to win by the slimmest of margins 5-4.

On the season, Schneider has been spotless, sporting a 1.000 fielding percentage while playing both second base and left field. With this newly added strength to his already prolific hitting ability, it makes Schneider a lethal weapon that the Jays can deploy at their will.

But the most important fact of all? The Jays have a sparkling 8-1 winning mark when Schneider is in the lineup as a starter this year. Somehow and some way, the Jays just seem to win with Schneider. So just in that alone, to maximize the team’s winning potential for the rest of the year, it is about time that he gets more starts going forward.