ICYMI: Davis Schneider delivers 100th MLB hit with second-career triple
alt
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Thomas Hall
Sep 11, 2024, 12:30 EDTUpdated: Sep 11, 2024, 12:25 EDT
Entering Tuesday night’s contest versus the New York Mets, Davis Schneider had just two hits in 54 plate appearances over his previous 20 games, striking out 25 times in that span. It’s been, by far, the worst stretch of his young career. But then, suddenly, he delivered a moment to remember with one swing.
The 25-year-old struck out in his first at-bat versus left-hander David Peterson a night ago, chasing a low-and-in slider for strike three. His next time up, however, things ended very differently.
Schneider was less aggressive in his second trip to the plate, laying off three straight outside pitches from Peterson to work a 3-0 count. After watching a sinker run by for strike one, he took advantage of a mistake over the heart of the zone, crushing the next sinker he saw to the right-centre gap for a two-run triple that came off his barrel at 100.1 m.p.h., resulting in his 100th career big-league hit.
That triple, the second of Schneider’s career and his first since last September, was part of a four-run third inning by the Toronto Blue Jays offence, which provided six runs of support behind a Chris Bassitt pitching gem to secure a 6-2 victory over the Mets.
The two runs driven in by Schneider were his first of any kind since July 29. It was also his second extra-base hit in five games, surpassing his total of one set across 22 games before then.
“It’s been a while since I had an RBI,” Schneider told reporters of his two-run triple, including Sportsnet’s David Singh. “I forget, I don’t know how long it was, but as long as we’re winning games, it doesn’t really matter what I do on the field. But it’s good to know that I contributed tonight.”
These last several months have been incredibly rough for Schneider, who, even with this recent bump in production, carries a measly .192/.285/.336 slash line and 79 wRC+ in his first full major league season. But it’s performances like Tuesday’s that serve as a reminder of how perseverance and hard work can be rewarding.
Despite his prolonged offensive woes, Schneider — whose homer-less drought extended to 53 games on Tuesday — remains an easy person to root for. He hasn’t altered his mentality away from the ballpark. Nor has he allowed his struggles to impact his clubhouse personality.
That consistency hasn’t gotten lost amongst his teammates, particularly with Bassitt and other veteran leaders, as Singh outlined. Regardless of the situation, he’s prided himself on maintaining the same energy level and work ethic he possessed upon first arriving to the majors last season.
“I take this job seriously,” said Schneider. “You got to come to the park each day and you got to put in the work in to see the results. Obviously, I haven’t really been playing the best these past couple of months, but as long as I’m here playing baseball, I’m going to work my ass off to do the job and make sure I’m giving 100 per cent out there.”
“I’ve had slumps before, I’m going to have slumps in the future,” he added. “But it doesn’t really matter. I’m still going to make sure I’m putting in the work and the results will take care of itself on the field.”
With only 16 games left, you can be assured there’s plenty of support behind Schneider as he looks to build momentum over these final few weeks to head into the off-season on a more positive note.