AL WILD CARD SERIES: BLUE JAYS VS TWINS

October 4, 2023

John Schneider

Target Field

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Without revealing the specifics, which I presume you'll keep to yourself, but in general terms, how do you plan for a game like this? Do you speak with other coaches about how to map out the innings ahead? Does the front office get involved? How does that unfold with a game with such big stakes?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Same as every other game, really. We do that 162. So I think the magnitude of the game, yeah, it's big. You don't want to stray too far from what you've done but you have to use your whole roster, too.

Have a few different game plans laid out. Hopefully one of them is with us in the lead and going from there. But definitely sit through and talk through a lot of different situations.

Q. Personally, how much pressure do you feel in this scenario? And when you see the guys pregame, what kind of vibe do you want? Do you want them to be loose, intense? What's the right scenario?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Both. You want them to be loose. This is a veteran group of guys, anxious to change the narrative a little bit. So you have to be focused but you have to be loose at the same time.

For me, personally, every game in the postseason involves a little bit of pressure. And you want your guys to be in good positions to go out and perform and have success.

Ultimately it's about the players. It's about them coming through in big spots. And hopefully today's a day they can do that.

Q. I know you're not usually like a pregame-speech guy but for a day like today, do you give the guys a message?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: They all know, we spoke briefly as a group. But you can't put too much pressure on the guys. You can't do anything you're not used to doing, and you can't -- you can't ask them to do too much.

But, yeah, they all know what's at stake. They know what's at stake. They're all on the same page and you don't want to overdo the pressure part of it but you want to make sure they're focused and ready to go.

Q. Thinking in terms of game flow, you mentioned momentum a few times. Just in terms of game flow, how much does an early lead impact the game flow from your team's perspective?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Anytime you can get out to a lead, that's huge. I think that we played really well with the lead especially with the bullpen we do have.

But especially a game like today. It would be great to come out early and throw together some good at-bats and get some runs on the board. I think kind of flush yesterday a little bit more than we'd already done. So hopefully that's the case. But these guys are up for the challenge. And a few runs early would be great.

Q. Down the stretch you've had to play with pressure and keep an edge. You've had breaks along the way. Yesterday a couple of defensive plays changed the game. What needs to break for the Blue Jays today?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's getting the big hit. I thought our bats yesterday were really competitive and didn't get the ball to fall where we wanted to in big situations.

So I think that is probably the key. You want to try to keep them at bay early and try to not let them jump out to a lead. But it's coming through in big spots really is what it is.

Yesterday Royce did that twice. And that was the difference in the game. They made a couple of good plays in the infield and outfield as well.

You need to make those plays in the playoffs. Those plays are magnified so you need to continue to make those plays, which we have all year. The difference is getting a big hit.

Q. I know you can't get into specifics, but getting ready for Sonny Gray today, what's the main goal you're trying to do here with him?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: He's tough. Obviously pitches to pretty weak contact. Doesn't give up a lot of damage. You have to be patient. You have to wait for your pitch and really shrink the strike zone.

Variety of different pitches. Obviously, yes, everyone has their tendencies. But what it comes down to is you have to wait for a mistake and you have to hit it.

That's the whole thing. Pitchers are really good in this spot in the postseason. Every pitcher makes mistakes. We saw it yesterday from both sides. So you've got to be ready for a mistake and have a really specific, disciplined approach.

And he's not going to give in. He's not going to be in the heart of the plate too much. So you've got to really be patient, diligent and hit those mistakes when he does give them to you.

Q. You talked about holding them at bay early. Can you put a finger on the issues that your team has had for a while about not getting out to those early starts? It's been a long time, it feels like, since there's been consistent scoring in early innings?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: You can't really put your finger on it. I think sometimes it's like what we talked about all year about hitting with runners in scoring position and then the last couple of months it totally flips.

Really, pitchers are strong when they come out. They're at their best early in their outings, usually. It comes down to a mistake. You have to have good at-bats from the get-go. You've got to be locked into an approach from the get-go, put good swings on bad pitches that the pitcher offers.

For whatever reason that's kind of been up and down through the course of the year. You look at the talent of our lineup, especially at the top, all the confidence in the world that it's going to come through. And hopefully today's the day. There's no tomorrow if it doesn't happen today.