CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s something happening with Daniel Schneemann that demands your attention. The Guardians utility man, perhaps an afterthought as a 33rd-round draft pick who toiled for six years in the minors, is suddenly hitting like one of baseball’s elite sluggers – and forcing manager Stephen Vogt to find him at-bats wherever possible.
The hosts of the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast couldn’t contain their excitement when discussing Schneemann’s breakout weekend in Toronto, where he went 4-for-9 with two doubles and two home runs, including a game-changing sequence that transformed a likely loss into a victory.
“The Guardians didn’t have anything going on offense against Kevin Gausman and Toronto throughout the game,” host Joe Noga explained. “They were down 3-0, and Schneemann steps to the plate in the eighth inning, launches a solo home run, then comes back up in the ninth and we saw a typical Guards Ball rally against Yimi Garcia.”
That ninth-inning at-bat? A grand slam – the first of Schneemann’s career.
“He is, he’s on fire,” Cleveland.com’s Paul Hoynes remarked on the podcast. “It really couldn’t happen for a better guy. He was a late-round draft pick, played almost six years in the minors before getting his call up last year.”
The numbers tell an astonishing story. Since April 13th, Schneemann ranks sixth in Major League Baseball with a 1.123 OPS, trailing only superstars like Aaron Judge, Alex Bregman, and a handful of others. During this stretch, he’s gone 16-for-43 with five doubles, three home runs, and nine RBIs.
What makes Schneemann’s emergence particularly valuable is his defensive versatility. While recently making highlight-reel catches in the outfield, he’s equally comfortable across the infield positions. This Swiss Army knife quality has given Vogt multiple options for keeping his bat in the lineup.
“I thought it was really interesting that they were batting Schneemann second in Monday’s game before it got rained out,” Hoynes noted. “It goes to show you that Vogt is riding the hot hand, but also the way he’s swinging a bat, Schneemann has earned that spot.”
The quality of Schneemann’s at-bats hasn’t gone unnoticed by the coaching staff either. According to the podcast, Vogt has been impressed by how well Schneemann is controlling the strike zone, fighting off tough pitches, and consistently putting together professional plate appearances – precisely what you want from someone hitting second in the order.
Schneemann’s rise has created an interesting roster dynamic. Once-promising prospect Brayan Rocchio has seen his playing time diminish as Schneemann continues to produce. As Hoynes bluntly put it: “Getting to the big leagues is one thing. To stay here is a totally different animal.”
For Schneemann, that animal has been tamed through years of perseverance, positional flexibility, and now, an unexpected power surge that has the Guardians riding his hot bat toward contention.
Want to hear more about Schneemann’s breakout and the rest of the Guardians’ recent success? Listen to the full episode of Cleveland Baseball Talk for all the insider analysis and behind-the-scenes details that only veteran baseball writers can provide.
Note: Artificial intelligence was used to help generate this story from the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast by cleveland.com. Visitors to cleveland.com have asked for more text stories based on website podcast discussions.
Podcast transcript
Joe Noga 0:04Welcome back to the Cleveland Baseball Talk podcast. I’m Joe Noga, joined by Paul Hoynes. Hoynesy. Big weekend in Toronto. Rain out on Monday in Washington, DC., The Guardians getting set to play too. Another double header because of the weather in in Washington. Coming up on Tuesday.
Paul Hoynes 0:125.
Joe Noga 0:23Just you know your your take on, you know what happened in Toronto. A couple of you know just games where it could have gone either way. The the offense comes through. Daniel Schneemann has a big weekend against the Blue Jays.And the Guardians take two out of three, you know, when it looked like they were going to go go down. Oh, and two on Saturday.
Paul Hoynes 0:52Yeah, really impressed with the way they played in Toronto, Joe. You know, even they lose the opener 5 to 3,. But you know in the in the ninth they put two guys on, they have a chance to at least tie it and and they fell short a little bit 5-3, but then.They, you know, they come back and win 53 on Saturday,. Hang on to win 54 on Sunday and that’s that’s a good ball club that they beat. I, you know, just really impressed with the starting pitching and of course Daniel Schneemann and I really like the way the bullpen pitched, Joe.I mean, we saw, you know, the night, the 2024 version of the bullpen really come through in a couple of those games.
Joe Noga 1:38Yeah, it was. It was the big four all over again a couple of times there back-to-back days and the the rain out on Monday kind of helps reset things. Even though you’ve got the double header coming up here Tuesday. Let’s let’s break down that weekend first. You know the the the big story, the big news.Happened Friday when Jose Ramirez, trying to hustle out a an infield single in the third inning, lands awkwardly on the bag. I think a lot of people pointed towards getting hit in the back with the throw from Chris Bassett, but.It was more about him reaching for the the first base bag and landing awkwardly on that, that bag, twist, his ankle, mild right ankle sprain. I think everybody who who follows the Guardians and really anybody who follows baseball and loves watching Jose Ramirez play and the the all out 100% hustle that that he gives.Sort of breathed the collective sigh of relief when they found out it was a mild right ankle sprain because it could have been much worse. I think at the same time, over with the with the Red Sox, Tristan Casas had a similar play where he went into the bag and and twisted his knee and and all of a sudden he’s got.A ruptured patellar tendon and he’s going to miss the rest of the season, so it could have been much worse. Stephen Vogt saying, you know, they think they dodged a big bullet. There. Ramirez was pretty sore, didn’t play on Saturday, but was back in the lineup on Sunday.Just, you know,. What’s that say about the the kind of player that he is in terms of these, you know, these superstars, keep their bodies in such great shape to to be able to play every day. And Jose Ramirez is certainly one of them.
Paul Hoynes 3:25Yeah, Joe,. You know the replay on the play at first base, you can see Jose, he kind of tripped over the bag. He hit his. I think he hit his right foot on the front of the bag,. The front edge of the bag and went somersault. Over. It was. It was a nasty fall for sure. And I and like you, I don’t think getting hit in the back of the.With the throw had anything to do with it. I think he just, you know, he was just hustling and maybe missed time to step at first base and you know, but when he left, you know, he he never leaves games. So when when they when they had convinced him to leave the field and.
Joe Noga 3:57Mhm.
Paul Hoynes 4:02Get replaced. You were worried, but certainly glad that he’s back, that he returns Sunday. You know he’s the face of the franchise, Joe,. And I think you wrote that he’s the engine that makes him go. You know you can’t lose a guy like that. This if they want to stay in contention there that.You know they they need him.
Joe Noga 4:21You know, you think about what it would trigger if he were out of the lineup for any sort of stretch in in terms of where guys would be playing and and you know who would be the Next up and that kind of thing. You don’t want to look at at what the alternative is right now because the lineup looks different without him in there, without him producing.Sort of around him, the the guys sort of feed off of his, his energy, even though when he came back on Sunday he he didn’t get a hit in the game. He was still, you know, the presence was felt there and that’s that’s what’s important.Speaking of presence over the weekend, it was Daniel Schneemann. He was a presence in in Toronto. The roof was closed at at Rogers Center, but it didn’t matter. Daniel Schneemann was hitting the ball all over the place, 4 for 9 on the weekend, 2 double S.Two home runs, including a sequence on Saturday where you know the Guardians didn’t have anything going on offensively against Kevin Gosman and Toronto throughout the game. They were down 3 nothing, and Daniel Schneemann steps to the plate in the 8th inning, launches an eighth inning solo home run.Then comes back up in the 9th and and we saw the the the, the typical guards ball rally inning against Jimmy Garcia. It was it was impressive the way that Schneemann ended things or or sort of capped off that rally for the Guardians.
Paul Hoynes 5:50Yeah, Grand Slam. First Grand Slam in his career. Joe,. I wonder if he’s using a torpedo bat. I know he he he had some ordered when they first. When the Yankees had that big, big first inning, that big game with using the torpedo bats early in in the season. And I he.Told me he was going to order, order a couple and I’m not. I don’t know if that helped change, change the direction of his swing, but he’s he’s on fire, Joe. And he really couldn’t happen for a better guy. You know, a guy that what played, you know, was a 33rd round draft pick, you know, somewhere around there.? I don’t know if I got that right, but.And then played six, almost six years in the minors before getting his call up last year and has really worked hard to play several different positions. Really, you know, taken to the outfield just has been really, really, you know, just the the Guardians always seem to find guys like him.And Schneemann is making a name for himself, really settling in., And now we’re seeing some power, Joe., And that is that. I’m sure Stephen Volt couldn’t be happier.
Joe Noga 7:00Yeah, you always the coaches always talk about young guys and and young players growing into their power, and that’s been the case with Schneemann here. Since April 13th,. He ranks 6th in Major League Baseball with a 1.123 OPS.That’s on base plus slugging percentage. He’s hit the guys he’s trailing in that in that list. Alex Bregman, Austin Hayes, Pete Crow, Armstrong, Jorge Polanco, and Aaron Judge. Those are the only guys with better OPS since April 13th. I wonder if those torpedo bats arrived on April 13th.Maybe that’s that’s we’ll we’ll find out in pregame. Today. Yeah,. It’s just been an incredible stretch. 16 for 43, 5 double s, 3 home runs, 9 RBI. He’s been just lights out and you’ve got to find a way to.
Paul Hoynes 7:38You gotta ask him, Joe. You gotta ask him about that.
Joe Noga 7:58Get him in that lineup and get him at bats and an opportunity to play. You know, we saw in the the game over the weekend when he made the,. You know,. I’m sorry. Last week in in Cleveland. I believe it was. What? Thursday. He made the catch up against the wall which on Kenzie.Well, where the two of them hit the wall at the same time, and our our photographer, Josh Gunter, just had this incredible photo of the two of them sort of plastered up against the wall, making the catch at the same time. This is a guy who’s he’s athletic. He can make plays not only in the outfield, but but he’s he’s got the versatility to play.Anywhere on the infield,. He’s he’s making a strong case for being that guy to to get more at bats and play more innings. And you, know,. Brian Rocchio has sort of been the unheard of guy ever since. Schneemann has come on.
Paul Hoynes 8:53Yeah, and you know,. I thought it was really interesting that they were batting Schneemann second in Monday’s game before it got rained out. He was in the second spot and just it goes to show you that, you know, Vogt is riding the top of the hot hand, but also the way he’s swinging a bat, Schneemann has earned that spot.And.And you know, while Schneemann is is trending up, Rokio is struggling big time, Joe, and he’s just not getting a lot of playing time. Right, now. You know, she Schneemann can play shortstops,. So that opens more at bats for him. You know, Arias has been solid since day one. That opens more at bats for him at shortstops.So it’s, you know, you get to get to the big leagues is 1 thing. To stay here is a totally different animal.
Joe Noga 9:41Yeah, and I, I think the quality of Schneemens at bats is is one of the things that’s the keeping him in there as well. Stephen Vogt mentioned that in his pregame talk yesterday. Just, you know, he’s he’s seeing the the zone really well. He’s he’s taking pitches.He’s fighting pitches off and and and he’s he’s connecting with the with power. He’s he’s he’s doing a good job of just putting together good at bats. And that’s what you want in that number two spot in the lineup. That’s probably why he’s going to be back in there at some point, you know, today during this double header as well, so.Just the hot hand, right? Now. Daniel Schneemann. The hot rotation the last time through the rotation., The last what, six starts for this. This rotation? A 1.87 ERA coming to since since April 29th.Lowest starter ERA in the majors during that stretch. Just what have we seen that we liked out of the the starting rotation since you know, the the end of April?.
Paul Hoynes 10:44Yeah, Joe, in the last six, in their last six starts, the the Guardians, in the last six starts, the Guardians starters have only won, you know, two, I think 3 games, but the team has gone five and one in those starts. So you know that.That’s like the modern, you know, the definition of the modern day starter. Give your team, give your team a chance to win, then get out of the way and let the manager go to the bullpen. And you know, that’s what we’ve seen here. If you just look at these last six starts, Joe Bybee goes 5 innings.Three runs Williams, even though he only went four innings against the the Toronto over the weekend, only allowed two runs. You know, Logan Allen, two runs over 5 and 2/3 Lively 5 and 2/3 scoreless innings. Ortiz, who’s you know, will pitch.I believe the first game today, 6 and 2/3 scoreless, and then Bybee again, 7 innings, 1 run. So that that rotation is really coming together, Joe, and the previous six starts did not go so well.But they had a 9.85 ERA. The previous six starts, but that also included Nick, Doug Nikasi’s Big League debut, where he struggled and gave up six runs and three innings. But you know, so I think the rotation is trending in the right.Direction. And if if that’s the case, Joe, and the bullpen keeps playing, I mean pitching like they have,. I think the Guardians are are going to be in contention all year.
Joe Noga 12:29Yeah, it’s. It was good signs out. Of, you know, even like you mentioned that the Gavin Williams outing on Saturday,. They they were short. Yeah,. He was short,. But he he, you know, sort of struggled early and then gave up and then gave the Guardians.Enough there at the end of the outing to to get them through four. Then Colby Allard came out of the bullpen, gave them four innings, gave up one run, but sort of held things right there and gave the offense a chance to come back when they did.You know, late in the game. So yeah, the the rotation is doing his job. The bullpen, also stepping up and we saw like you, like you mentioned, it was more like the the 2024 version of the bullpen over the weekend in Toronto, especially in that game.On Sunday, when you know Tanner, Bybee gets cramps while he’s warming up in the on the 5th inning., This is a situation that we’ve seen before from from Tanner Bybee going all the way back to his college days where you know, whether it’s not dealing with hydration enough or just something, you know.In his metabolism, I don’t know. Maybe it’s too much. Chipotle pregame, too salty, who knows?. But he goes out there, has cramps in his in both of his legs while he’s warming up after before the 6th inning., Tim Herron has to come out there and warm up in front of.God and everybody on the on the mound, you know, instead of in the bullpen, which he says is kind of a weird feeling when you’re you’re getting loose out there. But Timmy Herron gives him a scoreless inning. Cade Smith. I don’t think Cade Smith’s allowed a base runner in three innings.Of work in Rogers Center in his career. It’s his third appearance, third scoreless frame. Hunter Gaddis struggles to get through, but you know, gets out of a jam with two runners in scoring position in the 8th, and then you hold on for the Emmanuel Class A show in the 9th. He gave up a run.But got the out that he needed to when he struck out George Springer for his 7th save. Just what do you think of the the Bullpen’s effort,? Not only in that game, but throughout the weekend?
Paul Hoynes 14:45Yeah, just I really love the the way the pen pitched, Joe. It was a reminiscent of last year. Like we said, really just, you know, really. They look so confident out there. Even, you know, Hunter Gaddis, he, you know, he puts the first two guys on, but in the 8th inning, but doesn’t.He gets the next three guys out, you know, for his 10th hold. I think he’s he’s got the second most holds in the in the American League. This year. He’s only allowed one run, Joe. He’s only around one run this season, so far. And that’s your that’s your setup, man. That’s your 8th inning guy. And then you know.
Joe Noga 15:16Mm-hmm.
Paul Hoynes 15:25With with Class A very, very encouraged on Saturday with the Save he he got, he took a 10 pitch save, retired the top of the Toronto lineup in in order., But then you know, come come Sunday, he throws 25 pitches to get 3 outs.Gives up a run, but hangs on for the save and the Guardians come away with A1 run win.
Joe Noga 15:50Yeah, it was a a little more involved because of the the the error to the first batter on the the sort of the swinging bunt in front of the mound. He throws the ball away and you know that sort of sets up the inning for.Things to be a little more sort of dangerous, I guess, for Kolase, but you know, he gets through it. Are we going,? Are we seeing a little bit more of a situation where he’s going to be a guy who has to pitch to to get these saves as opposed to just going out there and blowing, blowing other teams away with his stuff?
Paul Hoynes 16:09Yes.
Joe Noga 16:25Of now.
Paul Hoynes 16:26Yeah, I think you’re right, Joe. I, you know, just watching the games, those two games on TV,. Especially Sunday’s game,. I saw him working up in the zone a lot more with the,. You know, with the with the cutter and and you know he and just, you know,. He’s throwing 100 miles up, 100 miles an hour up in his own., I think. That’s.That.I know that’s something Carl Willis had wanted him to do. And maybe, you know,. He’s starting to pitch a little bit. He’s starting to move that cut fastball around a little bit more and then coming in with the slider. You know, it. It amazed me. Of course,. The 9th inning starts with Jimenez Sending,. You know, sending a comeback or back, to.Mound and he ends up on 2nd base. What Jimenez was like one for 30 going coming into the series and what he Joey, it looked like he had 10 hits in the three games.
Joe Noga 17:15Well, I I think he had a two run single earlier in the game and they were his his first RBI’s in like 84 plate appearances dating back to April. I I mean everybody, you know, it was a it was a great reunion weekend. I think Friday’s lineup had.Ernie Clement, Miles Straw and Andres Jimenez in the the bottom of the Toronto lineup. So great to see a lot of familiar faces. Even here in Toronto to see Ahmed Rosario and Jose Tena are are guys that, you know,. It’s sort of like I said, it’s a reunion Rd. trip. But yeah, Jimenez.Hadn’t been, hadn’t been doing much, but you see the the other team’s uniform. And what’s what’s Vote always say? You know the the, the, the former team, you know, sort of magic. The former former team boost is is is a real thing when you’re when you’re playing your former club. So Jimenez comes through.With a couple of RBIs, his first in quite some time, and you know, sort of takes the sting away a little bit that that he wasn’t necessarily, you know, hitting the lights out. But we did get to see a few flashes of his, you know, Gold Glove, platinum glove defense throughout the weekend and that sort of.You know, sort of pine for the days when he was playing second base for the Guardians. Couple of hitters to just, you know, note and and you know, just take note of their their weekends that we’ve already mentioned. Gabriel Arias, he was 3 for four on Sunday.6th multi hit game of the season against right-handed pitching. He’s batting 276 this season with four double S, three home runs and a 781 OPS. Stephen Kwan,. He had another multi hit game. I think he had two multi hit games.In in the series, you know 14 multi hit games in the season, 18 games played on the road this season. So Stephen Kwan away from Progressive Field is hitting 380 with six extra base hits, 10 RBI S and then 985 OPS.He is among the league leaders right now in contact rate, strikeout, percentage, total hits, batting average, on base percentage among qualified American League hitters, and Kyle Manzardo., Another big game for him on Sunday. Couple of hits.And a couple of walks, which is a real important thing for him. Fifth multi hit game of the season and he continues to just dominate left-handed pitching. When he faces a lefty, he’s slashing 4125552 and he’s slugging.1.294 that that’s just slugging 1.294 against left-handed pitches with a double, a Triple, 4 home runs, 10 RBIs. His OPS against left-handed pitching 1.816, which is really, really good.
Paul Hoynes 20:09Yes.
Joe Noga 20:22Against lefties for Kyle Manzardo.
Paul Hoynes 20:24Yeah, Joe, the guy that jumped out to me was Kwan 7 for 13 over the weekend. And then defensively, I mean, he made two great plays in a series. I mean, in a series of really good plays, the two plays really jumped out at at you, the one off the wall where he got a.Where he got a Guerrero going into second base and then the I can’t the what was the relay. The relay home. No. Yeah,. The relay home. Just, you know, two. I mean, this guy does everything, Joe.
Joe Noga 20:51Mhm.Yeah, among the the top left fielders in in the game, right now, certainly worthy of All-Star talk. Even this early in the season. Just Stephen Kwan having an outstanding year already. All right, we’ve got two to play in in Washington.
Paul Hoynes 21:02OK.
Joe Noga 21:17Be fun., We will check back in ahead of tomorrow’s series finale here on the Cleveland Baseball Talk Podcast. Hoinsey will. We’ll talk to you, then.
Paul Hoynes 21:27Good deal, Joe.