John Patrick Schneider (born February 14, 1980) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

coach who is the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He became a coach for the Blue Jays in 2019 and became interim manager on July 13, 2022. After the 2022 season, the Blue Jays hired him as their permanent manager. Prior to coaching, Schneider played six seasons as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in the Blue Jays minor league organization.

Playing career

Born in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

and raised in

Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Lawrence Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located at the cross-roads between the Delaware River, Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan R ...

, Schneider graduated from Lawrence High School in 1998. He attended the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Fightin' Blue Hens. In three seasons, he batted .306 with 23

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 139

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs). In 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Chatham A's The Chatham Anglers, more commonly referred to as the Chatham A's and formerly the Chatham Athletics, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chatham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. Schneider was selected by the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in the 24th round of the

2001 Major League Baseball draft The 2001 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban baseball pitcher who had recently left Cub ...

, but did not sign, and was chosen by the

in the 13th round of the 2002 draft. He was assigned to the Short Season-A

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) ...

for the 2002 season, and hit .240 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. The following year, Schneider played for the Class-A

Charleston AlleyCats The Charleston Dirty Birds are an American professional baseball team based in Charleston, West Virginia. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a partner league of Major League Baseball. The Dir ...

and the Triple-A

Syracuse SkyChiefs The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which opened in 1997 and has ...

, and batted .188 with 14 RBIs in 59 games. Schneider played the entire 2004 season with the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

, appearing in 58 games and batting .206 with six home runs and 28 RBIs. With Dunedin in 2005, he hit .321 in 22 games and was promoted back to Triple-A Syracuse, but struggled to a .179 average through 34 games with the SkyChiefs. Schneider played at three different minor league levels in 2006, including the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

, but was limited to 34 games due to back surgery. He retired after the 2007 minor league season, due to three concussions suffered during the season.

Coaching/Managerial career

After retiring as a player, Schneider was hired by the Blue Jays organization as a catching instructor. In 2008, he became the manager of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays its ...

. Schneider was promoted to manage the Short Season-A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

on December 1, 2010, and became the youngest manager in team history at 30 years of age. In 2011, he managed the Canadians, but took a personal leave of absence during the season. Vancouver won the league's championship in 2011. Schneider returned to the Gulf Coast League in 2013, and then went back to managing Vancouver in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he managed the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

, and in 2017, won the first

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

championship in the 33-year history of the Dunedin Blue Jays. On January 10, 2018, Schneider was promoted to manage the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and led the team to an Eastern League championship. At the end of the season, he was named the Eastern League Manager of the Year. The Blue Jays promoted Schneider to their major league coaching staff before the 2019 season to work with Blue Jays catchers. He pitched to

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. (born March 16, 1999) is a Dominican-Canadian professional baseball first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019, and he bats and throws right-handed. Guerrero ...

during the 2019 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The Blue Jays promoted Schneider to become their bench coach for the 2022 season. On July 13, 2022, the Blue Jays fired

Charlie Montoyo José Carlos Montoyo Díaz (born October 17, 1965) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, managed the Toronto Blue Jays and coached for ...

as their manager and named Schneider their interim manager for the remainder of the season. He won his first game as manager that night. Schneider led the Blue Jays to a record and to the

2022 American League Wild Card Series The 2022 American League Wild Card Series were two best-of-three playoff series in Major League Baseball (MLB) that determined the participating teams of the 2022 American League Division Series (ALDS). Both Wild Card Series began on October 7, w ...

as the Blue Jays manager in 2022. On October 21, 2022, the Blue Jays hired Schneider as their full-time manager, and signed him to a three-year contract with an option for a fourth season.

Managerial record

Personal life

Schneider has two siblings. His older brother Matt played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for

Muhlenberg College Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college in Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg College is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is named for Henry Muhlenberg, the German pat ...

. His younger brother Kevin played baseball at

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its university charter, c ...

. His parents David & Cathy live in New Jersey. Schneider married his wife Jessy in 2015. They have two sons; Gunner, born in 2016, and Grayson, born in 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, John 1980 births Living people American expatriate baseball people in Canada Auburn Doubledays players Baseball catchers Baseball coaches from New Jersey Baseball players from Mercer County, New Jersey Charleston AlleyCats players Chatham Anglers players Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens baseball players Dunedin Blue Jays players Lawrence High School (New Jersey) alumni Minor league baseball managers New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Sportspeople from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Sportspeople from Princeton, New Jersey Syracuse SkyChiefs players Toronto Blue Jays coaches Toronto Blue Jays managers