The Toronto Blue Jays released their lineup earlier today for their evening matchup against the Minnesota Twins and there is a new face at the top of the lineup.
Davis Schneider, the team leader in OPS when you factor out Danny Jansen and his smaller sample size, is batting in the leadoff spot with George Springer out due to a sickness that has him and fellow outfielder Kevin Kiermaier on the bench.
When asked if Schneider would stay in the leadoff spot following today’s game, manager John Schneider was not committing to a permanent change, “I’m not ready to pull the plug on George. He’s still a huge part of our team. We’ll see how it goes tonight.”
The move for the time being makes sense on a few different levels based just on the stats alone, as Schneider has been one of the brighter points on a lacklustre Blue Jays offense through the first month and a half of the campaign.
Davis Schneider slots into the leadoff spot for the Blue Jays
The right-handed batter owns a .275/.383/.475 slash line while posting a .858 OPS with seven doubles and three home runs through 30 games this season.
At the plate, the New Jersey product has walked 12 times compared to 24 strikeouts and has collected 13 RBIs, sitting behind only Justin Turner, Daulton Varsho, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who all boast 16 apiece. Through 80 at-bats, Schneider has collected 22 hits and has some timely home runs on record, including a game-winning two-run shot against Houston that helped the Jays avoid a sweep against the Astros earlier in April.
In contrast, the 2o24 campaign as not been kind to Springer at the plate.
The Connecticut product has posted a .574 OPS through 141 at-bats to begin the season and has 27 strikeouts, the fourth most on the squad. He owns a .206/.276/.298 slash line and has seven extra-base hits while walking 14 times out of the leadoff spot. He hasn’t been moved from the top of the lineup all season long and fans have been clamouring for change after his dreadful start to the season.
Dating back to his August debut, Schneider has only started in the leadoff spot once – an August 7th game against the Cleveland Guardians where he went 0-4 with two strikeouts in the Jays win. This time, the Blue Jays will be looking for some more pop at the top of the order with one of their better hitters getting a crack at starting off the bottom half of the first for a change, whether it is temporary or not.
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