AL WILD CARD SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS TWINS

October 3, 2023

John Schneider

Target Field

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

Q. After going through the last year's Wild Card series, players tell me, with their playoff experience, it can help them navigate the day a little more, knowing what to expect. As a manager going into this a second time around, what do you think you've learned about last year and maybe how to handle things moving forward?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's kind of like a wedding. It's a long, drawn-out day. And just understanding the cadence of it is important for everybody. And I love the way that they've kind of responded the last couple of days where it seems like it's business as usual.

You try not to get too different or too cute in the postseason, not doing something different than what got you here.

So, yeah, I think you learn how to slow it down and understand when the game starts, it's still a game. But there's just a little bit of a heightened sense of awareness with everything.

Q. Going with the same lineup that we've seen kind of lately, is that just a matter if it ain't broke don't fix it? And what do you like about the way that lineup sets up?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I like Brandon's approach at the top there. I like having the possibility of Bo up with runners on base. And I think it makes it tough to match up against, whether it be righty or lefty. So it's worked since we've kind of rolled it out this way. And hopefully it can continue to do that.

But you try to really just put guys in spots they're going to have success and try to counteract some moves that may be made as well.

Q. What excites you about giving Jose the ball tomorrow in the old park against the old team?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's a cool story, but I think what excites me is having him on the mound. He's had such a good year and such a good career. I'm sure he'll be a little bit amped up back here pitching against his old team. But the thing that excites me is that his stuff.

So hopefully he can kind of channel it a little bit, the excitement and the probable anxiety that comes with it. But his overall year has been such kind of a normal Jose Berrios year. Looking forward to him having that opportunity tomorrow.

Q. This time last year he wasn't going to start for you in a Wild Card start. What has he done over the last year to earn a spot in this rotation?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Kind of got back to being himself, really. When you look at the consistency of his outings and the consistency of his stuff, it's been what he's doing for -- or what he has been doing for his whole career.

So work that went into the offseason with Pete was big. And I think kind of just setting a foundation to be consistent with his fastball, especially, and it allows him to play two pitches off of that.

So it's been a lot of work that he did put in, and I think him getting the nod tomorrow is just kind of a little head nod to the work that he did do.

Q. Players talk a lot about postseason baseball speeding up on them. What are you telling your guys to slow down the moment?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: For one, enjoy it. Try to embrace every moment from all the early stuff like anthems and flyovers and stuff like that. You want to enjoy every single moment because not everyone gets to be here.

At the same time, you have to just understand that any little thing can be a big play, whether it's getting a guy over or a dirt-ball read or a defensive play or a walk. Everything is kind of a big play when you get into the postseason.

So enjoy the moment but at the same time do what you're good at. I think between the guys that have been here and have been in this situation before and the guys that have been with other teams that have won World Series and World Series MVPs, I think it's a good mix of personalities and a good mix of demeanors as well.

Q. We talked throughout the year about intensity and motivation and fuel and all that stuff. Kevin Gausman said the other day that he and most of the guys in there still hate the way last year's playoffs finished. And on Sunday, Vladdy said he's still upset about 2020 and going out of the playoffs like that. How do they use that as fuel for this?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think everybody does. I think that you want to change the narrative a little bit. And reps are big, and I think postseason reps are huge. And guys want to kind of say, okay, yeah, we got here again, which is a good accomplishment. But at the same time you want to take the next step.

So the fact they're all a little older been together for another year I think fuels that feeling a little bit. And you can use it, but at the same time you can't let it overwhelm you. Whatever is in the past is in the past.

But I think getting back to this point is something that every guy in the clubhouse that was there last year, every staff member, myself included that was there last year, we were really looking forward to having this opportunity. And definitely looking for a better outcome.

Q. As far as Chris Bassitt is concerned, such a horse for you all year and he's not going to go in either of the first two -- you're not saying who is going in Game 3 yet -- but is that a part of keeping your options open, whether it's for that deciding game or the future potentially?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, a little bit of kind of how they lined up from their last outing, too, and trying to get the appropriate amount of rest without giving them too much rest. But I think our starting pitching has really carried us the entire year.

And so in my mind you can't really go wrong with any of the top three you're going to roll out against a lineup like this. They all know that you have some opportunities to be a little bit creative in a short three-game series with anyone that's on the roster.

So it's a good problem to have and guys are on board with doing whatever it takes to win.

Q. During the postseason you guys don't need number five starters so sometimes the number five starter doing something different during the postseason. Have you ever considered your number five starter put on different spot, if not, is there anything you can expect from him during this postseason?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You're talking about hundred Jay.

Q. Yes.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You don't need five but what you expect from him from this series is to be ready to pitch in the next series if we move on. And a veteran guy who understands where we are and how we line up against this team and we expect him to continue to be ready to pitch. Hopefully we're playing after the next couple of days and he's back in there helping us.

Q. John, referring regular seasons are a playoff tomorrow. In the playoffs you have to earn your tomorrow's how would you describe a shift in mentality the should there be a change in ways guys played to way guys think about it, do you try to stay the same way? How would you assess the psychology there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You try to stay, try to be consistent, do what got you here. But at the same time, with this group, in particular, we've probably battled some inconsistencies over the course of 162.

I think the fact that -- the ending can be very near. I think that fuels these guys. Over the course of the season you have the time to wait around for it to come. I think, unfortunately, it didn't come as consistently as we had hoped.

So, yeah, you want to have a little bit more, okay, here we go, but at the same time you have to really just do what you're good at.

I've been looking forward to this group having this chance to really kind of have everything on the table for a while now. So we're here, and I'm excited to see how they come out.

Q. How does that trickle down or trickle up to the coaching staff, maybe in situations like these, asking someone to do something that they may not have been asked to do very often or that often and the kind of urgency in managing; you can't manage 162 like it's Game 7, but you can manage Game 2 or 3 like it is.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: These guys, they're ready for anything. The way you put your roster together gives you a lot of different options, whether it's on the mound, at the plate or ni the field.

In an ideal world, nothing really changes, but I think you have to really grasp situations knowing you either need to get back into the game or you need to try to win the game a certain way.

So hopefully those situations are kind of few and far between, but I think everyone that's in there on the roster, they're ready for something that may or may not have happened over the course of 162.

Q. Since you're going to be playing the entire series here in Target Field, is there anything about this ballpark that is particularly difficult or easy or anything that you have to take into consideration because you're playing here?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: For one, it's a great ballpark. It's a beautiful ballpark, one of the nicest ones that we come to. I think right field is a little bit weird; you have to be ready for any kind of carom off right field there.

Shadows are going probably going to come into play a little bit, which don't come into play at home with the roof. But, other than that, no. I think we've played well on the road all year.

We started out 10 games in a row on the road, and these guys are battle tested in that area. You enjoy it. We've played before. Guys are comfortable with it. And so any little quirky thing would be right field. But it's an exciting place to play.