Utility player Davis Schneider has been optioned to triple-A Buffalo, the Toronto Blue Jays announced Thursday.

Schneider, who has all three minor-league options remaining, will join the Bisons in hopes of taking positive strides at the plate with increased playing time. The move is likely in preparation for outfielder Nathan Lukes’ return from the paternity list after his wife gave birth to their son on Tuesday.

To Schneider’s credit, he enjoyed an impressive showing throughout spring training, hitting .333/.487/.633 with two home runs and five RBIs across 17 Grapefruit League games. He also displayed encouraging plate discipline, earning nine walks to his 12 strikeouts. But the 26-year-old hasn’t been able to carry that early success into the regular season.

In 10 games with the Blue Jays, the right-handed-hitting utility player has gone 1-for-15 (.067) and struck out eight times, albeit while working five walks. Most concerning, however, is that he’s yet to produce a single hard-hit ball (at least 95 m.p.h.) or barrel up anything across seven batted-ball events.

For reference, Schneider featured a 17.8-per-cent barrel rate and 38.4-per-cent hard-hit rate following his mid-season promotion to the majors over a 35-game span in 2023.

With his right-handed stroke and defensive versatility, Schneider fills a clear need for this team when he’s at his best — slugging versus left-handed pitching. But since he hasn’t shown any signs of replicating the effectiveness from his remarkable ’23 performance and first few months of ’24, the team has decided he could benefit from extended opportunities at triple-A rather than continuing to play sparingly with the big-league club.

Once Lukes officially returns, Toronto’s outfield mix will also include George Springer, Anthony Santander, Alan Roden and Addison Barger — called up from Buffalo on Tuesday — with three of those five hitting exclusively from the left side.

The Blue Jays will open a three-game series versus the Seattle Mariners on Friday, with Bowden Francis and Bryan Woo as the scheduled starters in the opener.