John Schneider makes crazy claim about struggling Blue Jays star

By now, we may have all heard of John Schneider’s various bold claims about the state of the Toronto Blue Jays this season. They have ranged from the team will starting turning things around soon to annointing Daulton Varsho as the best outfielder in baseball. With some, there might actually be some juice behind it, but for others, they have been just out of this world.

The latest claim made by Schneider definitely falls heavily on the ludicrous side, as he commented about the current status of struggling Jays’ outfielder George Springer. According to Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, the manager hinted with great optimism that Springer could be on the verge of breaking out soon.

“He’s probably a couple of days away from getting hot. That’s just how good he is. Has it happened? No, it hasn’t happened consistently,” Schneider said. “There will be times that we try to guard him or guard other guys, but at the end of the day, I’m not nearly at the point of saying, ‘You’re going to play three days a week.’ George is George. We have confidence he’s going to get it going.”

So really? Springer will suddenly find a gear and start tearing the cover off the ball in a couple of days? It has now been almost three months into the 2024 MLB season. If it were to happen, it should have transpired already weeks ago. Does Schneider happen to know something that we don’t?

Nevertheless, one thing is for sure. Springer is amidst a career-worst season that has him hitting below .200 for the first time ever, along with offensive numbers that had fallen way off a cliff. In a way, it is eerie similar to the time when Jays legendary slugger José Bautista was in his tailing final years with the team. However, the main difference between the two was the fact that Bautista was still capable in drawing a high number of walks and hitting 20+ home runs during his downfall.

Whereas for Springer, his decline has taken place much earlier than expected at age 34 with his run production being almost completely absent, tallying just 5 home runs and 15 RBI this season. Looking at his advanced stats on Baseball Savant, the regression has become more pronounced with a sea of blue in the bulk of the categories other than chase, whiff and walk rates.

So with Schneider’s reassurance that Springer’s playing time won’t be cut back any time soon, the Jays better hope for a huge turnaround in the coming weeks. Otherwise, with still another couple years left in his contract that is practically untradable at this moment, it could be a long season for this year and beyond for both Springer and the Jays going forward.