AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2025

John Schneider

Yankee Stadium

Toronto Blue Jays

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. Looking at your lineup, what is the thinking about Santander back in right field and having George DH?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think that's kind of how we've been operating and kind of how we can flip things, I think, at a certain point in the game and who may go in defensively, whatever it may be. Those guys are aware of that.

So I think just trying to keep everyone where they have been and knowing that we can kind of change it up if needed.

Q. You guys had a couple of uncharacteristic miscues defensively. I'm curious what your thoughts are on whether those miscues can be contagious throughout a ballgame much like many managers believe hitting is contagious.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I don't think so. That's not how we've played all year. Pretty uncharacteristic defense game for us, so I don't think so. I don't think it gets contagious, especially with this group. I think they kind of just move on and do what they're good at.

Q. How did you sleep last night?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Quickly. Got home late. Slept okay. Just haven't been doing much sleeping lately, so it was kind of par for the course, but nice to get woken up by my kids jumping on me this morning. So pretty much par for the course.

Q. Just curious what your communication style is to your pitching staff on a day like today?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Be flexible, be ready. Again, we've done this. A lot of teams have done this. There's no set script. I think everyone kind of understands where they fit within their lineup, and things can change in a hurry.

I think Pete and Graham do a really good job of communicating that with them, and I think they've done it enough to where they're going to be prepared. You never know how the game's going to start. So you can have all the best laid out plans and it changes.

So I think they have to be flexible and just be ready to go when the phone rings.

Q. The guys that you have available for Game 5, Trey Yesavage and Kevin Gausman, what's their availability tonight, and what's the extent to which you could use them be?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think probably Trey more than Kev tonight. Kev's going to throw lightly off the mound here this afternoon. Trey won't. I think that you've got to kind of see how the game goes and see what the score is, see where they are in their lineup, who you have available in addition to Trey or Kev or really anyone.

We'll see how the game goes. I think that, again, one of those guys may factor in.

Q. Ernie Clement has seven hits over the past two games. What can you tell me about what he's done in particular to become such a tough out against lefties after struggling against them last year? And what has he meant to your team on both sides of the ball this season?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, good question. Ernie, he has elite bat to ball skills, and I've seen him cover a foot above the zone and a foot below the zone. With that comes a little bit of volatility with the results.

Ernie is not scared of any situation. I think his play kind of shows that, the way he plays the game, whether it's on the bases, on defense, or at the plate. I think he's pretty confident right now.

When you get into the postseason and stakes are a little bit higher, guys like that tend to rise to the occasion, just guys that play the game the right way.

Lefties, I think that he's made adjustments with his approach, and I think he understands a lot more today than he did last year or even a month ago kind of how teams are approaching him.

I think everyone knows he's a pretty aggressive swinger, so I think kind of taking that into his approach as well and hunting certain spots. He's meant a lot to the team. You can put him anywhere. I remember him saying you can put me behind the plate, I'll catch. I think he was actually our emergency catcher at one point.

So he's really, really fun to have, and his style of play can get a little bit contagious. He's been really, really valuable to us this year.

Q. In scripting lanes for the bullpen, do you and Pete do that last night, or do you wait until you see their lineup this afternoon and then put all your various scenarios together?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, you wait for their lineup, and then you kind of go through a lot of different scenarios. We started talking about it probably about 1:00 today. Again, there's no perfect science to it. You try to put guys in the best possible spots. At the end of the day, they've got to go out and make pitches. They've got to go out and execute.

Score, inning, all that kind of stuff comes into play. You're just trying to find the right spots for it.

It's something I know that we've gotten better at as a staff. It's a pretty common thing to do in today's game. So I think you have to be pretty well versed in trying to execute it. We've kind of gotten to the point where -- I know it can be, oh, it's a bullpen day. What are they going to do? We take it as kind of a challenge to where you've got to tackle this. You try to thread the needle a little bit.

But man, these guys, they know how to do it, and I think they ultimately know they're going to be in spots for the most part that we think they're going to be pretty good, and they've just got to go do their thing.

Q. Can you and Pete keep that in your head, or are there so many possibilities you have to write it down or type it out?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Right now it's pretty well versed in my head. But no, we have a lot of things that are written down and color coded and coordinated with all sorts of stuff. Again, you're not just pushing a button at a certain point and saying, okay, this is time to do this. You're watching what the guys are doing.

But it's nice to work with him, with Graham, with Luke and Sam, everyone, DeMarlo, Donny. Hearing different ideas is always good. And kind of just sucks for me sometimes like, hey, you're making the decision. But I think we as a group feel pretty good about what we're doing.

Q. With Bo making progress, how do you map out these next few days for him?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: We'll see, man. The last three days have been pretty positive for him. He hit in our little sim game in Toronto against Max and Chris. Running today for the first time. We'll take it a day at a time and just listen to how he's feeling.

In talking to him when he got here yesterday, I think he's probably turned the corner a little bit in terms of making some steady progress. It wasn't just kind of hitting in the cage, it was facing some live pitching and knowing that he was going to be running today for the first time.

So I think he's making some strides, and we'll continue to take it a day at a time.

Q. When relievers are facing a team multiple times in a short series, how does that impact the matchups, preparing for the matchups, and the way perhaps they attack the opposition?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, it's a chess game. That's what makes these series interesting and fun, and you can't take anything for granted. Biggest thing is you can't kind of fall into patterns. This game is a lot of about tendencies and trying to hunt a certain pitch or a certain area.

At the end of the day, I think you have to go -- there's so much information. You've got to just go execute, and you have to know what you've done before. You can't really be a broken record. There's a perfect way to do it where different guys are facing different parts of the lineup every day, but you get into a series like this, and it doesn't happen all the time.

There's some savvy. There's some gamesmanship that goes into it. I think that's something we've been talking about the last couple days, especially with guys coming out of the pen.

Q. Similarly, how do you see the dynamic between both Guerrero and Judge having really strong series playing out over for both teams within the series?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's good for baseball. I said it last night, they're performing on a big stage. I think it's cool for the sport to see that, to see some big name guys doing that.

More importantly, I think you can't get caught up in that too much. I think we've talked about nine-on-one. We've talked about 13 guys contributing every single day. So I think the minute that you feel like you have to do it all yourself is when things start to go the wrong way.

But it's been kind of as advertised with those two guys, what they've done -- what Vlad's done against them and what Aaron's done against us. I think it's a guy you're aware of for sure on both sides.

Q. We're learning pretty much now that Trey is available out of the bullpen. When did those conversations happen between you guys and Trey to let him know that this might be something that you would ask of him?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: A while ago. That's why we did this in the Minor Leagues with him. I said part of the draw of Game 2 was using his flexibility if we need it. Again, it's not like a foregone conclusion we're going to use him. We've got to kind of see what plays out.

I think that probably in the weeks leading up to him even being called up, that was something we started to look at in Triple-A, and handled it well. We'll see where today leads.

Q. You guys wouldn't be where you are if you weren't good at turning the page on a loss and bouncing back the next day. You guys hadn't blown a lead that big all year, and it was a closeout game, a chance to put away this team in this place. Is there any different feeling after last night's game and coming here today, putting that behind you and moving on?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Honestly, no. I think these guys have been through enough and we've all been through enough that you know this team's not going away. They're not rolling over by any means.

Baseball happens. I would say baseball happens. There's always a first time for everything. It gets magnified in the postseason, but that wasn't the feel coming into the clubhouse after the game last night. It's definitely not the feel in the clubhouse today.

Every loss sucks. Every loss is the same, whether it's by one run or whether it's by 20. Every loss sucks. I don't really feel much different than how it's been all year, where you've got to come, formulate a game plan against a good pitcher, formulate a pitching plan for your own staff, and go out and compete your ass off.

Q. Something very hard hitting I've got to ask you about, the white panel hats. You were on something of a hot streak with the white panel hats. Last night didn't go your way. I know you said you only packed that one for the trip, but what's the thinking around the hat and the rest of the postseason?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: To be honest with you, I'm not sure we're even wearing this today. I did bring my other hats. I kind of just said that in real time. I don't know what we're wearing. This one was sitting in my locker, so I'm assuming that's what we're wearing. We've been playing well with them. So if we're rocking them, that's great.