Davis Schneider finally has the breakout game the Blue Jays needed from him

It may have been a long time coming, but the Toronto Blue Jays finally got a huge breakout game from last year’s post-trade deadline hero Davis Schneider. On Saturday, Schneider went 3-for-4 with one run scored and two RBI, including a big 379ft. home run during the third inning. The Jays would go on to win 7-2 against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

When he was asked what led to his success at the plate for the game, Schneider explained that the x-factor was the fact that he was using Danny Jansen’s bat. As the Jays meet the Boston Red Sox again later this month, Schneider mentioned that he will ask Jansen for more at that time.

For Schneider, he really needed that game much more than the Jays did. After all, the three hits that he registered was his first multi-hit game since his two-hit game against the Detroit Tigers on July 21. Even more prominent was the fact that his home run was his first in almost three months, dating all the way back to the June 22 game against the Cleveland Guardians.

After starting off the year strong by posting a .245 batting average, .824 OPS, along with 25 runs scored, 13 doubles, 7 home runs and 29 RBI in his first 49 games of the season, Schneider had been struggling mightily since the turn of the month in June. From June 1st onwards, he had accumulated just a paltry .151 average, .460 OPS, 17 runs scored, 6 doubles, 3 home runs, 11 RBI, 20 walks and a whopping 81 strikeouts in 206 at-bats over 73 games played, prior to Saturday’s outburst. In doing so, Schneider has seen his playing time cut back tremendously in recent weeks in favour of other prospects on the team as a result.

His showing on Saturday against the Cardinals was a first step in the right direction as he exuded some confidence by appearing more patient and zoned in for his at-bats. More importantly, Schneider managed to deliver after falling behind in the count in each of his plate appearances. Hopefully, he can build upon this breakout performance to finish off strong for the rest of the season. With competition likely to be fierce for roster spots on the Jays squad in the upcoming 2025 season, Schneider will need to be at his very best to keep himself a part of the conversation going forward.