Davis Schneider shares his thoughts on what's been a tough year

The Toronto Blue Jays are currently on a good run. Six straight wins (the standings will show five, but one of the wins was the make-up from June's game against the Red Sox) has propelled them to 65-68, despite being a season worst 10 games below .500 just two weeks ago. The deadline Jays have been playing an inspired brand of baseball, getting great production out players like Ernie Clement and Joey Loperfido. There's been one player who's struggled to bask in the recent glory, and that is Davis Schneider.

Schneider has struggled massively in his sophomore season, after setting the league on fire in 2023. The 25-year-old is slashing .196/.289/.339 over 113 games this year, after getting penciled in as one of the Jays key contributors. His OPS+ (79) is almost 100 points lower than last year (175) and the struggles have only continued to get worse. Since June 1, Schneider has a 38 wRC+, which is the lowest mark in all of baseball (min. 195 PA). Growing pains are one thing, but this is something deeper. Schneider is aware of his struggles, and still believes that he can get back to his old form.

“I feel like I deserve to be here,” Schneider said. “I feel like I showed I can handle it. It’s a matter of how long these slumps last. I feel like that’s makes good hitters good hitters. Everyone goes through slumps. It’s a matter of how long it is.

"I’m not playing well. I know that. It’s just a matter of working hard and trying to get back to where I was.”

The expectations have altered for Schneider. The team has acquired players like Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner, who serve as both infield and outfield choices for future seasons. In spite of that, Schneider will continue to get opportunities to work out of this rut and prove to both the league and himself what he is capable of.

Schneiders playing time has already been reduced to make space for some of the new blood that has arrived, but do there need to be further measures taken? It's possible he needs to tweak some things at another level to find himself ready again for MLB pitching. Similar to last year, Schneider is striking out 30% of the time. The difference is his BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) has dropped from .369 in 2023 to .262 in 2024. With such a significant drop, all of Schneider's offensive production has been thwarted.

He's struggling to do damage on fastballs especially. His -14 Run Value against fastballs is among the worst in all of MLB, as he's batting just .120 against all four-seam fastballs this season.

The Jays have limited options to sort out this current problem. Erik Swanson had went through a demotion earlier this season, while working on both his control and execution, before returning back to the big league club. It may benefit Schneider the most to take off the pressure he's been under in a more neutralized setting. With all of the current young infield options that are on the current roster (i.e Wagner, Clement, Leo Jimenez, Spencer Horwitz), there's no better time for Schneider to regroup at another level.

"I feel like I try and do a little too much when I’m up there." Schneider said. "I just have to go back to what I’m good at, which is seeing pitches, working the counts and swinging at pitches I know I can handle, too.”

There's still a month left in the season for players to turn around their seasons in dramatic fashion, and go into the off-season with some encouragement. Davis Schneider got pushed down this year. It's now up to him to get back up again.