OverDrive - Schneider on the Blue Jays' final stretch, Yesavage's spotlight debut and Bichette's injury timeline

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Schneider joined OverDrive to discuss the team's overall season, Trey Yesavage's solid debut, Bo Bichette's injury and his return to the roster, George Springer in the spotlight, the positive atmosphere on the team, what has led to success with the bats and more.

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Here he is the manager of the Blue Jays, John Snyder. How you doing, John? Hey, fellas, what's going on? Doing well, thanks. Yeah, it's great to catch up with you. Is it strange to be in a pennant race playing at a spring training facility in September? A little bit, you know. We were here in May, you know, and we've kind of, we've really talked about not making

this a thing, you know, and it'll make your league baseball. But it's, I think, a little bit more unique for us because we come here in spring training. all the time, you know, and we're kind of just used to that being the thing here. So you've got to treat it like a regular game, but yeah, it definitely has a little bit of a COVID feel, things like that. It's just a little bit unique. Yeah, it is. But it worked for you last night, and man, it worked for the kid. Trey is Savage. What a start for him last night. Nine strikeouts. He goes five innings, his family's up in the stands. It was amazing. What have you learned about him?

What did you learn about Trey's Savage last night? man um not i you don't want to say not much that you didn't know right we didn't really know him um for a kid that was drafted last year but he handled the whole day extremely well and i think with each inning that passed as he came off the mound he seemed to kind of take a deep breath each time you know and kind of settle into to pitching but what we learned about him was he's um he's pretty cool you know he's pretty collected and obviously could miss and bats. That's kind of the driving factor of bringing them up here, and he's got a unique delivery, unique arsenal, and, you know, hitters don't see that kind of release point very

often. You know, it's pretty well documented. So he went right after hitters, you know, which was something we preached to him, you know, just let your stuff play in the zone. Really couldn't have asked for much more than when he did last night. Yeah, it was pretty incredible to watch. And naturally, people are, you know, putting the carpet before the horse, like, all right, playoffs. a few weeks away, what happens now, he's not technically eligible to be a part of the playoff roster. Can you take us through the plan with him? Like, what's next for you, Savage, the rest of the regular season? And can he possibly factor into the playoffs for you guys? Yeah, I think in terms of going forward here the next couple weeks, again, we brought him up

because we thought he could just help us win. You know, he's done both, you know, starting, relieving this year in the minors. We kind of did that deliberately with him in the last month and a half or so, and we're still kind of working through what the next outing is, whether it's starting or, you know, could be coming out of the pen. We're just, we're just trying to win as many games as we can and think that Trey can be a part of that, obviously. So how that unfolds, we'll see, we'll see how everyone else in the rotation kind of goes and make that decision in a couple days. And then as far as the postseason, he's, I know it's weird. I think the written

rule is you have to get an exemption from the commissioner. and it is very, very likely that that will happen. I think the most recent example was Jackson Job in Detroit last year, a guy that was in their system but didn't come up before, you know, until after the first of September and he was on their postseason roster. So that's part of our thinking too, obviously, you know, we called him up hoping that he was going to perform up to his ability. And then if that's the case, you know, hopefully help us in some way,

shape, or form, you know, when and if, hopefully we get to the postseason. So I'm not really worried about that. going forward and just kind of want him to continue to, you know, pitch the way he's been pitching all year. John, you've been around the game a long time. When you see young guys come up, is there something that you need to see the, you know, for yourself as a manager to, you know, gain confidence in a young player, especially a young pitcher that carries himself that way in his first start? Yeah, you're looking, I mean, we all know about his stuff and, you know, where he was drafted and why and things like that.

We look at things, you know, how he handles himself throughout the day between innings. on the mound, running game stuff, how we execute the game plan, you know, all that kind of stuff in real time. And the first outing is always a tricky one, you know, because there's going to be nerves, there's going to be anxiety, there's going to be excitement, no matter where you're playing, the matter who you're facing, right? So we're looking at kind of how he navigated a day as a whole, and he was really, really damn good, you know.

Can you throw strikes? Can you kind of slow things down a little bit? And he did that with each of it and it went on. So that was, to us, just as encouraging as what the stuff was. Okay, we need you to vote on something for us and basically, yeah, break the tie here because I think he looks just like Bryson Deschambo. These guys don't. Do you see Deschambo when you look at Trey as Savage?

Yeah, I could see it for sure. Yeah, I can. The way you frame that sounds very convincing, man. You say it's the way you frame the question. I was leading. You're forcing the person with you. Yes, exactly. You definitely led the witness.

I led the witness there a little bit. Yeah, that did benefit me. I think he looks like Bryson. But anyway, with John Schneider. We saw today, we were very, everyone was very happy to hear about that second opinion for Bo Bichette. Sounds like it was a very positive one. Does that mean the first opinion was a negative one? Like, take us through that process, why Bo felt he needed a second opinion and kind of where the team takes it from here on Bichette.

Yeah, I think, you know, the first one wasn't a negative one. I think when you're trying to find the right timetable for a guy to hopefully get back, you just want to kind of cover all your bases, and you work with the player, you work with the training staff, and see what that looks like. And I think kind of just confirming what the first, you know, meeting with the doctors was, was important for everyone. And, you know, Bo was back here in Florida. He was actually, he was over at our complex this morning, getting some work done,

and he should be over here any minute, basically, I think, around 5.5.30 and be back with us and hopefully continue to progress forward. You know, again, it was the news that I think we were expecting, but kind of wanted to just make sure. And, you know, there's still no definitive timetable on it, right? But I think he's going to do everything in his power to get back as soon as he can. Is it a scenario with Bichette where, you know, you, in order for him to, return, he's going to play short? Or is, is a DH an option for Bowen? If so, how complicated can that make things, you know, come playoff time or down the stretch if he's simply only available to you as a DH? Yeah, I think we'll get more of a feel on that once he starts

ramping up some activity, you know, I think the goal is, yeah, you know, if you can be ready to play short and kind of get us back to like, you know, a regular roster that we've been, you know, deploying all year, that'd be great. But when you're talking about the caliber of hitter that he is, you know, I think that if that comes first, I'll definitely take that and you can work around that. When you're talking about leading our team in RBIs and is really productive in the middle of our order, you know, we're just going to kind of weigh it out and know that Bo will put in the work to get ready to do as much as he can. So when we get to that point, we'll make that decision but you know i i mean i would take bo bouchette's bat in the lineup over a lot of people

in this game you know so if that's the case great if he's ready to play short great john did you see this type of season coming out of george springer you know um i'd be lying to you if i said yeah you know i think that i think that we we definitely expected george to to be better than he was last year right i mean i i know that i probably took some heat last year saying there's a lot of things that we still think he can do and you know it's a down year for him um and he attacked him you know in the off season you know he was working through it in spring training and i know there was a lot of people talking bad about him in spring training based on results and um we never lost confidence in him and you know i've never lost confidence in george just because of how how athletic he still is

you know he can still run he's still really strong he's swinging the bat faster than he did last year he's really hit it off with our um hitting coaches you know david popkins and louis noughty and hunter You know, they've made some changes. So we definitely were expecting George to be more productive than he was last year. But he's really kind of taking his game to a new level. You know, I think it's arguably his best year since he's signed here and best year in a while in his career overall. So that's been huge for us, you know, to where you look up,

he's hitting 300 with 29 and 80 and stealing bases. He's been right in the middle of everything we're doing. So he's been so good. So, you know, again, when you're projecting, do you project that? Yeah, probably not. a guy who's just getting older by the day, but he's been so consistent all year and

such a big part of what we're doing. Schneides, for the checklist for a skip or a coach, like the clutch gene and just sticking with it and hanging in games, like how much do you love watching that, the way your guys are finding ways to get it done on a nightly basis? It's funny, you know, I feel like we should just

spot a team one run on the first and then start the game, you know? These guys, man, it's, for one, the camaraderie, the chemistry in this clubhouse, you know, I've said this all along. I wish, you know, the common fan could kind of be in here every day and see how they operate. Part of it is that, and part of that is real, and it gets contagious.

And part of it is kind of how we're built, too, you know, where if you do get down, you know, I think that we have the pitching and the defense to keep the game kind of where it is, you know, to keep the game at arm's length and able to come back. And then you put kind of our offensive profile into it where we got guys that hit the ball to the park, we got guys that can put the ball in play, we got guys that can run the bases. It's a pretty sustainable thing to do. Now, coming from behind, it's just, it's stressful. You know, it's, you don't love it, but I think that we have done it enough to where when you're in those situations, guys are confident that they can do it because we've

done it so much, you know. So it's awesome to see them turn the page to the next thing every single day this series. And I'm talking inning by inning, pitch by pitch, and just focusing on what is important in that moment. You know, that was my biggest message to them in spring training was what's important now and figure out what is important right now and go do it and move on to the next thing. So they've done a phenomenal job of it all year. And hopefully we can have a little bit of leeway here with the scores or getting ahead as opposed to falling behind. But they just don't quit and they really believe in one another. With John Schneider, Jay's raised tonight. And, you know, we had you on a bunch over the last

couple of years last year the year before and we probably started every conversation about clutch hitting and runners and scoring position and you know hitting for power and everything is flipped this year and I'm obviously that was you know a point of contention and that was something I'm sure

you and your staff everyone within the organization realized okay we got to find a way to flip this and it has flipped drastically to the point where again you guys you know in the driver's seat in the American League what when what was what was the plan and how how has it worked out so well for you guys where

again you've had such clutch hitting all year and it was it was just it was such an issue the previous two years yeah I think um our personnel has changed a little bit I think that we've definitely we realized over the past couple years that we have guys

guys that have been here guys that we brought in guys that we've developed um that make a lot of contact so within that you know we kind of leaned into how do you make better contact last year um and then looking at how we were going to be built this year you know you kind of say okay, we're a team that's probably going to make enough contact to move the ball forward. So it starts with game planning.

You know, I think a lot of credit goes to Pop and Lou and Hunter. We definitely have tweaked kind of our preparation in terms of meetings, messaging, keeping it, you know, very, very simple for everyone, but everyone kind of having an individual plan based on what a pitcher may do to him. So the in-game messaging has improved from the coaches to the players. I think the confidence has improved in the players when they go up to the plate with a specific plan to execute. And, you know, runners in scoring position can be, it can be a volatile thing, you know,

over the course of the season or from year to year. And I just think that when you're prepared for any situation, you just put in a better spot to go out and have success and to just do what we're asking you to do. So it's been a combination of a lot of things. We tried to address a lot of things in the off season in terms of finding the right matchups, whether it's pinch hitting or finding the right matchups,

you know, against the starting pitcher based on a guy's swing, and feel like we've really taken a lot of steps forward from a preparation standpoint. So circling back on you Savage here quickly in terms of who he's surrounded by, I'm just, you know, I'm looking at the ages of your staff. You got Bassett's 36, Pryos, 31, Bieber, 30. Gosman 34 and Max is 41.

They're all married. They all have kids. I don't think you could ask for a better situation, though, for you, Savage. If you're a young kid coming up, if you were to put yourself in his shoes, you got future Hall of Famers, you got studs, you get guys who have been around forever. I can't imagine the other five guys that are, like, hitting the bars on the road or anything. They're probably all asleep by like 9.30 or 10. Like, is this a perfect situation for a young pitcher to step into a staff like this?

Yeah, it's pretty cool. You know, I think that, you know, we've had that for the past couple of years. We've had a lot of consistency. And then you add, it helped Eric Lauer when he was in the rotation, you know. And then I think you bring in Bebs and he's just another guy, you know, he's another guy that has won a Cy Young. He's been a frontline starter. He's been in postseason. He is very routine-oriented.

You know, so that's been cool. And to have a young kid who got drafted last year be able to be around them. Now, everyone's a little bit different. in terms of how they pitch and their pitches and all that kind of stuff. Max was pretty funny. He came up to me in the second inning yesterday, and he said, man, I thought for, as only Max can say, he said, man, I thought for a kid who was 20 years younger than me, you know, he would throw harder than me, you know, just trying to give him a little bit of crap.

But I think him having the ability to be around these guys and kind of, you know, talked to them, picked their brain a little bit, is going to be eye-opening for him. And, you know, for a rookie kid coming up making his debut in a pennant race, he's going to hear a lot of stuff. You know, so it's a matter of what he needs to take in and what he needs to leave. But these guys have always been welcoming to whoever comes in. And for Trey,

it's basically a dream scenario, I think. Yeah, it really is. And, you know, I know you're somewhat superstitious. I'm sure you are.

And you guys have not clinched a playoff spot yet, but you're on pace. You know, at what point do you start, you know, thinking about that, you know, rotation and how you line everyone up.

Is that something you... Cars, darts in the locker room, all of it. You've got to plan it all out. That's right. Exactly. Exactly. It's, you know, we've talked about the last couple days, you know, with some players and obviously

staff and, you know, front office and things. And, you know, it's, you've got to thread the needle a little bit to where, again, we're trying to win every game. And it's, you know, you don't want to, you know, at the expense of, you know, a guy's workload or a guy who's grinding a little bit physically, everyone's kind of grinding right now physically. So you want to try to take advantage of some days off from bullpen guys. from regular position players,

but you also still want to put yourself in position to win and not take anything for granted. So we've talked about it, you know, but it's definitely a balance, you know, and I think guys understand that, and they're ready to contribute however I'm asking them to. As they should be. It's been a great run so far,

and it's going to be a really fun stretch run here. So best of luck tonight, the rest of the series down in Tampa, the rest of the way during the regular season, and we always appreciate you finding time for us. Thank you, John. You back, guys. Thank you so much.

Looking forward to getting home, too, back in front of our fans, man. They've been amazing. Absolutely. Can't wait to see you. Thanks, John. Appreciate it. Thanks, guys. All right, appreciate it.

John Snyder, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline Drive the Built in Canada fuel-efficient, funded drive Toyota Rout 4, gas or hybrid models available. Is it Maple Toyota.com. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. join ruby car for encore the stories behind the songs you love new interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive stream encore the stories behind the songs you love on iHeart radio or wherever you get your podcasts