AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS BLUE JAYS

October 7, 2025

Davis Schneider

Yankee Stadium

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame 3 Press Conference

Q. You guys have got several guys in your lineup who have played different positions on different days because of injuries and platoon issues and stuff like that. I wanted to know, for you, is it tough to prepare differently for all those scenarios, or is it something that has become routine over the course of time?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I feel like it's not that tough. I mean, we're baseball players. We don't really do too much when we're out here. As long as we know where we're playing, it's kind of easy to get the work in that day, whether it's infield, outfield.

It's kind of become routine for us because a lot of guys play a lot of different positions, so we kind of got used to it at this point.

Q. Rodón obviously a really tough pitcher. What do you anticipate from him tonight, and what's the game plan to counterattack what he might be doing?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: He's a smart pitcher, he's a competitor out there. I feel like that's the number one thing he's really good at. He really competes when he's on the mound. As a hitter, you have to know that going into it, make him throw pitches, kind of get him out as early as you can.

Just got to make him throw pitches and make sure he can get you on three pitches, three good ones. Just got to make him work when you're out there.

Q. Broadly, what have the last 48 hours been like, just given it's such a daily sport and then you have a couple days where there's a bit of a break between games. What has that been like for you?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I feel like it's good, especially after 162 games. I feel like the team really kind of needs a reset. Not a reset, but just time off to kind of get your body right. I know a lot of guys were kind of struggling. George is 36, so he kind of needs some time off too.

I'm not an everyday player, but having time off is kind of good for the body. It's just kind of good to have that reset mentally and also physically too.

Q. Obviously this is an historic franchise. This building will probably be energetic tonight, and they won't be cheering for you this time around. There's probably a lot of young guys playing their first postseason. How do you kind of handle the pressure of being at Yankee Stadium and what you guys are facing tonight trying to finish this series off?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I think it's a cool experience. Watching the Yankees -- I grew up a Phillies fan. Watching the Yankees beat the Phillies in '09 was not the best. But it's a great franchise to kind of play against. Obviously to play for, it's probably awesome as well.

They're the Yankees. They're one of the best teams in baseball. But it's just kind of cool to be here in this ballpark. Aaron Judge is one of the best players of our generation, and it's kind of cool to see him do his work and play against him and see his career.

Q. It seems like a lot of the young guys don't seem to be intimidated at all. It's like you're just having fun. Even watching you walk into the ballpark today and take that early BP, it looks like a lot of the guys are just having fun.

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I feel like we have a bunch of just young dudes at heart. We have a lot of old heads, even George. George is 36, but he acts like he's 12, which is great. You want a leader that leads by example but also learn how to have fun. He does that too.

Even Vlady. He's only 26, but he acts like he's been here 20 years, which is what you want as a leader too. Everyone is on the same page of having fun, and whatever happens happens out on the field.

Q. Just going back to the summer, that game where you had the 14-pitch at-bat, and afterwards George came to you in the dugout, what do you remember of just that conversation that you had with George there? And what do you think it says about the types of things that you guys as a team value in game.

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I feel like Schneids really preaches the little things, do the little things right, run the bases hard, first to third, getting good jumps on the bag. For me, I didn't think it was that big of a deal. It was just another at-bat, but obviously George thought it was. He kind of made me feel I did a good thing about it.

And making the pitcher work is really big. Making him throw more pitches, he gets exhausted. It only takes one pitch for something good to happen out on the field. That led to an error and then led to a couple runs. One pitch could change the outcome of a series, a game. So you've just got to take it one pitch at a time.

Q. As a Jersey kid, you've only known the Blue Jays. How does it feel you're not just representing the team, but in a way you're representing Canada as a whole?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it feels great. I kind of had to get reminded about that a couple times just because you're not just playing for a city, you're playing for a whole country. And there's so many fans out there that support the Blue Jays. Not even just in Canada, but in the U.S. there's so many more Blue Jays fans than I ever thought of, whether in Florida or back home in New Jersey and there's a random Blue Jays fan.

It's ironic, growing up in '93, the Blue Jays beat the Phillies. People hate Mitch Williams more than they hate Joe Carter back where I'm from. It's cool to be part of such a great franchise. They've done so many things. 2015, 2016, it's cool to be one of those teams that do something special.

Q. This left field is maybe a bit bigger than most. I'm just wondering if you can compare it to some of the other left fields you've played in and how you have to adapt to it.

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: The fans are probably going to be on me all night, but it's just one of those fields where you have to kind of know where you're playing, knowing where the track is, knowing where Varsho is playing out in center. We obviously did that before the game and kind of scout where we're going to play and what type of hitter is up at the plate and kind of where he likes to hit the ball.

There's a lot of big outfields in baseball. Like it reminds me of Colorado, just how big left center is, but there's a lot of hits to be made out there. You've just got to make sure you're in the right spot.

Q. I know you got sent down to the Minor Leagues this year. Did you envision sitting at the podium right now answering these questions when you got sent down? As someone who's been sent down before, what was kind of the mindset when you went down there?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I definitely didn't envision this for sure. Just because when you get sent down, you're just kind of working on yourself. They kind of told me go back down, kind of work on your swing, work on what you need to work on. And I never took anything for granted. You just never know in baseball. You never know if you're going to go back up or get stuck in Triple-A or anything like that. I definitely didn't take it for granted.

I didn't do that great. I batted like .220, but I still got called back up. Obviously they saw something, and I just kept working down there. All you can really do is work hard and let the other things kind of happen. I don't make the decisions or anything like that. All you've got to do is go to the field, put in the work, and see what happens.

Q. You've got a knack for going 0-2 to 3-2. It reminds me a lot of Brandon Belt that was here a few years ago. What allows you to lock in and to not chase, yet foul off some pitches to buy yourself time to outlast those guys.

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I feel like for me I can't really hit everything. I know there's a lot of guys on this team that can hit all quadrants of the plate -- Bo, Vlady, George. I'm not that talented to do that. So I've got to make sure the pitcher's working. Sometimes I get down 0-2. Sometimes I go down in three straight pitches. That's just the way it is.

For me, I'm looking for one pitch. Whether that's middle, middle away, that depends on the pitcher. He strikes me out on three pitches, you just got to tip your cap sometimes.

I'm out there to do damage or try to get on base, and I feel like that's what I'm going to try to do every single time I'm up there. Just because I'm not going to hit the one down and away for a base hit to right field. I'm looking for one pitch to do damage on. If I don't get it, then I don't really get it.

Q. Have you figured out what stance you're going to tonight?

DAVIS SCHNEIDER: I'm doing the Will Smith. I was doing Judge earlier in the year, but I'm going back to Will Smith. I was doing that in Game 2. If we win this, it might switch in ALCS, so we'll see.