Why doesn't Blue Jays manager John Schneider bench veterans?

The Toronto Blue Jays have played like a mediocre baseball club all throughout the season. There is a belief, however, that this group of players still has time to turn things around and that they can win while keeping most of the core together. 

That belief, however, may be beginning to dwindle as the Blue Jays sit at 36-43 as of Thursday while their star players continue to struggle dearly. 

Three veteran players, Justin Turner, George Springer and Kevin Keirmaier, were supposed to be at the forefront of this team's success in 2024, have struggled both offensively and defensibly throughout the entire year. 

Amidst all the struggles, however, Jays manager John Schneider refuses to decrease their playing time to give chances to the younger and hungrier guys on the team. He still has absolute confidence that these struggles will fade and the team will turn things around. 

He said, while speaking at a news conference last week, Schneider explained his view.

“JT is 39, George is 34 and (Kiermaier) is 34,” Schneider said. “I know there’s a lot of public information out there that suggests that they are on the downswing. There’s a lot of information the public doesn’t get, that we have, that suggests otherwise. Hopefully, that turns for them.”

The manager then doubled down on his confidence in George Springer.

“(Springer’s) probably a couple of days away from getting hot. That’s just how good he is," Schneider said. "Has it happened? No, it hasn’t happened consistently,” 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.”

In 72 games this year, Springer is slashing a career-worst .196/.283/.298 and has only hit a total of seven home runs. Turner is slashing .243/.344/.369 in 68 games, which is far below his career average. Kiermaier (.201/.247/.299) is also having a down year at the plate but, more importantly, is having a down year in the field as well. His DWAR, as well as his DRS and UZR, are among his career worst so far this year. 

Springer, Turner and Kiermaier are still finding themselves in the lineup almost every day and they are taking key playing time away from hitters who are much more deserving than them. Hot hitters such as Ernie Clement, Spencer Horowitz and Davis Schnieder’s playing time all suffers due to Schnieders' loyalty to the above-mentioned veteran players. 

The club's sixth-ranked prospect, Addison Barger, is also experiencing inconsistent playing time and a limited number of at-bats due to a lack of field space. If the Blue Jays want to get younger and have more to look forward to in the future, they need to see what they have in this new wave of young players. 

The best and most successful major league teams ahold their players accountable for their actions. When former All-Star players struggle to the extent that Springer and Turner have struggled, they should see reduced playing time while they work extra hard behind the scenes to fix their games. They should not be put on pedestals and guaranteed starting roles by their coaches.

Turner and Springer are batting fourth and fifth, respectively, Thursday night as the Jays host the Yankees. Expect these players to turn things around soon or for Schnieder to be relieved of his duties.