Mound Success & Offensive Turnaround with John Schneider | Blair and Barker Clips

John good afternoon thanks for taking the time out how we doing good guys thanks for having me how you doing good uh so John Chris Bass is going to start tonight you guys had a bit of a decision to make with the rain out and the schedule juggling and things like that uh can you walk us through a little bit of why you guys decided Kikuchi against the Orioles on Wednesday Chris Basset tonight against the Rays and was there a little bit of it that way hey it’s Chris Basset bobblehead night no no not so much bobblehead night no I think uh I think just looking at how their lineups are you know a lot of lefties in in Baltimore a lot of righties here with Tampa um and kind of just try to match up the best that we could with Chris too especially he’s so flexible you know giving him a couple extra days you know not getting off his routine he’s fine with that um and just like the way you say’s throwing the ball try to keep um you know the Hendersons the the rushman right-handed the Santander right-handed um you know Mullins all those guys kind of just liked him better against that team um and both you know kind of on an extra day arrest uh so that’s kind of how John you being a former catcher is there something no one that a guy had eight days between starts that you could do behind the plate set up bigger is there something that you could help him along at least early in the game to get him in the flow I think you got to see how Chris is going really I mean he’s he’s again he’s such a a veteran and and kind of a pro um you know he appreciates the extra days but at the same time you know I think Jen does a good job kiry as well kind of harnessing their stuff based on what they’re seeing um so it’s uh we trust Chris that he’s going to be crisp and sharp and execute like he like he normally does um catcher’s job is yeah you know that he’s on a few extra days rest probably got a little bit of extra giddy up on his heater and things like that and and how to how to kind of command that as the game goes so eight days is obviously a little on the extreme end but these all these off days you guys have had scheduled and unscheduled there are a couple starters here who have gotten some extra rest in would you guys look ahead to the next month where there’s barely an off day how valuable do you expect that to be the fact that these guys did get an extra day or two even three here and there yeah I mean I think with with any rotation especially ours you know we we ask a lot of our rotation and they’ve answered the bell for a long time now and the more off days you can get them I think the fresher they are the deeper they get to go into games you know what I mean when they’re on extra rest I think uh you know it’s easy to kind of keep their bump their pitch count up a little bit and trust that they’re going to navigate some spots later in the game too and you know I think any any pitcher at this at this stage of their career really are they’re always going to be appreciative of the extra days and um as as long as everyone keeps performing the way they are um you know we’re going to be we’re going to be in every in every game for the most part so it’s uh it’s been nice that they do get the extra days and and hopefully it it shows up in their performances John Mano is pitching this weekend is there something in his last start that would tell you whatever that he’ll be predictable and you’ll know what you’re going to get from him in his next start yeah I think just you looked at the way he pitched against Minnesota you know tough lineup obviously and uh you know he was just in the zone I’ve been saying it for weeks you know with Alec when he’s in the zone he’s going to get outs and his only real cryptonite has been um you know the base on balls hit by pitches whatever may be those things happen but when he really limits it and allows his stuff to play in the zone he’s going to be pretty damn good um so I think whatever it was 78 pitches through seven Innings his last outing um that’s that’s really good for him especially so I just love the way he was attacking I loved what his again I’ve been saying for a while now his stuff is the best I’ve seen in a while for him going back a couple years so I think just getting it in the zone consistently is what you saw against Minnesota and confident that he’s going to continue to do that had you guys given any consideration with the extra off days and the rotation juggling to bumping him a day to the white socks just again because of the righty Lefty balance that you mentioned uh that you thought of with Basset and Kikuchi or was that getting too cute at that point yeah I think at that point getting a little bit too cute I think with the off day yesterday and with the rain out in Baltimore it made perfect sense to get us in there he was still on an day rest um and then it allows Kev to get one to get one and Alec to get one too so I don’t I don’t think looking that far ahead was kind of our our plan um again if it hadn’t rained it would have been Chris and Baltimore so it’s uh we like the way it lined up though for sure over this weekend uh not to give me Trade Secrets but is there a plan that you guys have come up with to keep Jimmy Garcia looking like this John that’s that’s electric stuff man like that is almost no chance stuff is there something you guys have come up with that can sort of keep him where he’s at now not giving away secrets you know I’ll let I’ll let Pete answer that one you know Jimmy is uh it’s such a luxury to have because you could put him in anywhere I mean coming in second and third nobody out and getting out of it and then going back out for another inning I mean that’s a that’s a tough ask uh he’s just been so damn good it’s um he he’s just sticking to his routine you know what I mean it’s uh it’s a big dude who throws hard and he’s coming at you with four pitches which is really really hard to do um as a reliever you know I think what’s really been great for him is his fast ball execution whether it’s a sinker and on rties are at the top uh with his for seamer sweeper has been a really good pitch for him that’s been new this year then the change up against lefties he’s uh he’s confident to kind of throw any pitch in any spot really and I think that he’s just really honed in on his pitches versus certain guys and his stuff speaks for itself but uh knock on wood hopefully we can keep him right where he’s at because he’s he’s up there best in the league right now that spot the other day where you come out and there’s two outs you go to Mesa he’s thrown 17 pitches and those are all high intensity pitches uh tough to take him out of that spot both because of how well he’s pitching and just the intensity when you go out there to take the ball from him yeah I mean he’s tough dude to take out no matter what I think looking at it where you know you’re looking he’s coming off of a little bit of a back thing and you don’t want to you know two innings is is is tough um to go to get the job done like he did and then go back out and then I I just didn’t want to roll into you know 25 25 27 28 pitch outing and have him be down for a couple days um you knew it was going to be you know him versus the Lefty there or was going to be Timmy versus a probable pinch hitter um but I think you know more so it was you know looking and understanding what he had gotten out of already um even after the leadoff qot double from Santander um in his second inning but just you know those those High leverage pitches add up and um at that point you got to trust everyone in your Bullpen before you try to get it to the closer I I know the bullpen pretty well Ed because of the couple of off days this week but do you anticipate having some some reinforcements back soon I know Bowen looked really good on Tuesday and I know Chad and and yarel had been progressing yeah they’re uh they’re getting close you know I think um I think Chad will actually be in a in a triaa game on Sunday and uh probably arel on Tuesday um and bow and scheduled for another one here um on Sunday I believe as well too so they’re they’re getting there they’re getting close and um you know hopefully they continue to progress in the right in the right direction and they’re all going to be welcome additions whenever they’re ready to come back John did you see anything with your offense against the best team in the American League that would tell you they’re about to take off you know Kev I mean you face Corbin Burns and Kyle bradish you arguably have you know some of the best stuff in not only the division but I think the league I think what we did against Burns I think we struck out twice which was really encouraging couldn’t really kind of get the big hit um it’s tough ask against a really good pitcher and then you get bradish out after four Innings yeah I do I like I like the overall approach it’s kind of been the same thing where we’ve we’ve been missing that big hit you know schneide up there with the bases loaded lines out on the 3-2 pitch uh we need to have those add-on runs I believe and in in conversations with the hitters and with the hdden guys you know we we want to just really focus on making sure these guys are taking good aggressive swings before you get to two strikes now easier said than done um but I think that that’s what we’re really focused on right now with that it’s not only you’re going to find yourself you know getting a good pitch to hit you know which I think we’ve done a really good job of over the course of the year but it’s just what you’re doing when you’re swinging um that’s where the the focus has kind of shifted a little bit and if you can you know temp is a little bit different with how they deploy but if you can if you can get the starter worn down um and then get that big hit and get some insurance runs or add-on runs you’re going to be in a good spot so it’s I think vlat swinging it the way he is B swinging it the way he is right now um J schneide even VAR kind of turning the corner a little bit it’s uh it’s been really encouraging and we just got to do it consistently you know it’s it’s really it comes down to what we’re doing with pitches we’re swinging at um even more so than the pitches we are swinging at I think that we’ve been talking about that for a couple years now and we’ve kind of conquered that point to say yeah we’re swinging at good pitches we got to do a little bit more with what we’re getting John whenever you have a lineup that has challenges hitting the long ball is there anything you as the manager can do do to force the envelope a little yeah I mean I think certain situations do pop up whether it’s a bond hit and run safety um trying to steal some bases things like that these are conversations we we have a lot you know what I mean you want to say okay this is gonna this is going to turn and guys that are going to you know that have hit home runs before are going to and we we definitely need that to happen and in the meantime you know it’s my job our job as a staff to see how can we how can we help support that you know our work in our prep but also how can you force some things when the situation does pop up in a game so those are things we talk about um again you’re trying not to ask people to do something they’re not good at uh but at the same time we talk about it as a group to where until we get really good rolling and we’re hitting some two three run homers pretty consistently you got to make some other things happen yep John the lineup came out while we were talking you here at Springer Bo Vlad at the top one two three Bo hasn’t hit second this year uh so he’s back toward the top of the lineup here that uh I I it as a vote of confidence that this I think 10 hits in the last six games is that’s a real turnaround for him yeah man again I’ve been saying this for a while it’s a matter of time till Bo hits it’s just it’s about as proven a track record as you can get since he’s been in the big leagues and he’s hitting the ball as hard as he ever has in his career um in this month and I think that um you know getting him there um keeping vlat 3 where he seems to be pretty comfortable um is is a good time to do it so again it’s the confidence has never wavered in BO whether it’s himself or me or anyone in this building with him with a bat in his hands I think when we did move him it was to kind of give him a little bit of a blow and and get and kind of get on get get back on track which he’s done uh so yeah that’s uh trying to get him up Bo can hit Bo has the ability to hit really good pitchers too and those are the guys you see at the end of the game and right now you want him up there uh Justin Turner got off to terrific start what are you seeing now from him John yeah I mean again I think um a really really good start and I think right now he’s just getting you know he’s getting pitched tough inside a little bit um and he’s probably you can you can ask him probably but I think he’s not getting as good of swings up as he did earlier in the year um but you know again talk about track record you know he’s he’s going to be just fine I think and um understands his swing better than anybody else so part of it is the way he’s being pitched again he’s 39 we’ve asked a lot of him in the first month and a half uh whether it’s DH and playing defense things like that um you still got to pick and choose your spots to get him off his feet and make sure he’s good to go um but all the confidence in the world that you know JT is going to have quality of bats every single night uh knock on wood here but is he and are all of you guys kind of behind what was going around the clubhouse the last week or two uh getting there you know between myself um him George a couple pitchers um yeah we’re getting there I think the off day was good uh we’re definitely turning the corner and uh you know hopefully everyone’s kids aren’t bringing these germs into the clubhouse as it seems like it has been for the last year or so but uh yeah for the most part everyone’s feeling better um still still working on my voice a little bit here but it’s uh it’s been a rough couple days for everybody John where do you think Dalton V show has improved the most in his game understanding where he hits the ball hard and sticking with it really you know he he verbalized it I think it was is a bat against Aken where um he’s sitting on pitches now he’s sitting on some soft stuff from lefties and trying to get the ball on the air pole side you know I think when Dalton does that I know you’ve talked about that at length with him or about him he understands that you know so I think having an understanding of where in the zone he can do that and then deliberately trying to do that um again I think he’s made great strides and there’s still room for improvement with him uh but man he he’s been if if he can kind of continue to roll or get rolling the way he kind of was a couple weeks ago I mean it just it makes our lineup that much better what he does defensively obviously speaks for itself I can’t believe that dude does not have a gold glove yet um but it’s uh I think Dalton just understanding where he can hit the ball the hardest and what he’s again it kind of goes with our whole lineup is what are you g to do with those pitches when you do get them and understanding what makes you what makes you good and dangerous yeah all right uh John Schneider manager of the tono Blue Jays thank you so much for taking the time out this afternoon great job buddy good luck see see you buddy see you

Blue Jays manager John Schneider joins Blake Murphy and Kevin Barker to discuss the decision to matchup Chris Bassitt to start the series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the effects of extra days rest between pitcher’s starts, Alek Manoah’s improvements on the mound and more!

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