Talented players turn tough decisions for managers into easy ones. When somebody’s bat is white hot, you can count on them being in the lineup, and the rest will work itself out.

Once fans pined for weeks for Davis Schneider to hit leadoff for the Blue Jays in early 2024, they finally relented and elevated him into the leadoff spot. It took until the 44th game of the season, but Schneider took his rightful place at the top of the lineup. After starting the season with a .260/.370/.490 slash line through 36 games, he forced the team’s hand.

Schneider, once again, is making manager John Schneider’s job much easier by playing his way onto the starting lineup card on a regular basis. But there’s a case to be made that Schneider should be there all the time, regardless of whether it’s a left-handed or right-handed starter on the mound that day.

It’s only 13 games into the season, but Schneider is once again earning his way onto the roster with impressive play. This campaign is still in its infancy, but the 27-year-old has not only impressed at the plate, but he’s also contributing defensively and playing smart baseball on the base paths.

Via FanGraphs, Schneider has the second-highest offensive value of any Blue Jays hitter at 2.4 (to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2.9), and Schneider’s 201 wRC+ is tops on the roster (yes, this will stabilize). Schneider’s .478 OBP is best on the club, and the rate of 4.78 pitches per plate appearance is the highest of his career.

Through the Blue Jays’ six-game losing streak, while many of his cohorts weren’t having productive at-bats, Schneider was working counts — and most importantly — did not stray away from fundamentals or try to do anything outside his realm of skills.

Schneider’s 2 for 3 night on Friday with a single and a double, two RBIs, and a walk was his most productive game at the plate this early in the season, but his impact was felt most during the Blue Jays’ 4-3 comeback win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday.

His walk in the bottom of the eighth — followed by a heads-up play to take an extra base on a steal attempt by Andres Gimenez at second base — allowed Schneider to score the go-ahead run from third base. Without that cleverness and speed from Schneider in that crucial moment, who knows how that game ends?

After last night’s game, Schneider has now started against three left-handed starting pitchers and only two right-handed starters. He is passing the eye test, he’s putting up solid numbers, and there’s virtually no case to be made to leave him off the lineup card with the way he’s been playing as of late.

It appears the coaching staff has wised up to the fact that Schneider’s splits are nearly platoon neutral with 261 career MLB games under his belt, and the splits are no longer as lopsided as they were when he broke into the big leagues in 2023.

Schneider is still tough at-bat whether it’s against a left-hander or right-hander, so he should remain on the lineup card until the numbers say otherwise.

Especially after the injury to Addison Barger, there’s an opportunity for Schneider to cement himself as a fixture in the lineup, with his closest competition for playing time being Jesus Sanchez and Nathan Lukes.

The skipper is attempting to juggle Myles Straw into the mix as well, with Daulton Varsho as a fixture in centre field, but he’ll only get the odd day off in the field. The left field spot is wide open here for Schneider to take it and run with it.

If established veterans like George Springer (or even Anthony Santander) were in the mix, it would be much more difficult to work a guy like Schneider into the fold effectively to where the team could maximize his production, but Schneider is a “set it and forget it” player right now. The less tinkering with his playing time, the better.

In theory, Sanchez is the only roadblock standing between Schneider and regular playing time. Having that left-handed power bat option in Sanchez is very appealing, but Schneider is arguably the better overall player, with a better glove, better baserunning prowess, and a superior eye at the plate.

Last season, the Blue Jays proved to themselves what’s possible when they give someone like Barger enough runway to prove their mettle. Upon his promotion to the big club, Barger hit the ground running, and whether it was in right field or third base, he became a fixture in the batting order game after game and blossomed into an everyday player.

Schneider has a chance to do the same thing here with the Blue Jays, so long as they afford him the runway necessary to get his feet under him if he struggles a bit. Let him face both lefties and righties, and keep him in that lineup until someone else plays their way into the conversation.

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