AL DIVISION SERIES: YANKEES VS BLUE JAYS

October 8, 2025

John Schneider

Yankee Stadium

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame 4 Press Conference

Blue Jays - 5, Yankees - 2

Q. Why do you think your team's now going to the ALCS?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think because they're a really close group. I think they're talented, and we had some big name guys do some big things. We had some guys that have been doing it all year do some things that they normally are pretty good at.

It's a really close group, and if I've said it to you guys once, I've said it a million times, they're really good at turning the page to the next thing that's important.

Just happy for everyone that was involved and kind of fitting that it took everyone to win today.

Q. What does this mean for you and your family?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Man, you're going to make me cry.

You know, it's really satisfying. This job is hard. The season is hard. Decisions are hard. The sacrifices are hard that you make and that they make for me. So to have them here is really, really fulfilling. And I always say that any success that this team -- not me, this team has -- Jess and Gunner and Grayson have a part of it because they allow me to do what I do.

Q. First and foremost, congratulations. In a game like this, there's a lot of emotion involved. How were you able to control the emotion in the flow of the game? Because you're losing and winning.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: There's a lot of moving parts, you know what I mean? You know this team is never going to go quietly. I think it was nice to get out to a lead in the first. Even when McMahon hit the home run, you still feel pretty good about how it was going to line up. But the guys went out and did it, you know what I mean?

Huge bat from George. Couldn't be happier for Nathan Lukes with the series that he had, the season he's had really. More so than anything, they do a really good job of managing themselves. It's an unbelievable cast of characters in there that can keep a group levelheaded or get a group going if you need to. A lot, if not all the credit goes to the players.

Q. All season you guys have been talking about the next-man-up approach. How fitting is it that you guys close us out on a bullpen day in particular when you had eight guys come in and really contribute?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Very fitting. I think I said it a few times in the clubhouse, I think the baseball world as a whole looked at a bullpen game versus Cam as kind of a no contest. We view it as an opportunity to do what we're good at.

So to have basically almost every pitcher contribute and to have some prominent names contribute and some guys that have been doing it all year. You know, Barge with three hits and Myles with an add-on run and Lukey with a big hit, it's just very fitting and sums up the 25 Blue Jays.

Q. This seemed like a game where you and Pete had to make more decisions than average. How would this standing next to Pete all day compare to like a Tuesday in May?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Completely different. If people knew the work that went into it, it's stressful. We started talking at 1:00 this afternoon. And I give so much credit to Pete and to Graham Johnson and to Sam Greene and Luke Hoey for kind of working together to kind of figure this out.

My job is to try to put them in the right spots. Their job is to go execute, which they all did. So you can have a plan, you can have a script, whatever. It is what it is, but the players have to go do it.

Today it was pretty gratifying standing next to Pete, who I've known and loved for a lot of years, even when I wasn't in the Big Leagues, when I was in the Minor Leagues. He's treated me like a brother. So to kind of react in real time, I think we've gotten a lot better at having a plan, reading the room, reading the feel of the game, and making decisions.

It was pretty fulfilling today to have Pete there.

Q. I know that if you could just get a complete game shutout, that's cool too. But is a game like this fun for you? You kind of got your foot on the gas, your hand on the wheel the whole time?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I texted the guys this morning and said, this is an opportunity to have some fun, which I really meant. It seems uncomfortable as hell, but I really meant it. It's easy to say, okay, we blew the lead yesterday and we're walking into this today, but I think that we really kind of felt it.

Fun? Right now, yeah. From 1:00 till 10:00, debacle. It's a lot. I shouldn't say debacle, but there's just a lot of moving parts. Just glad that the guys did what they did.

Q. I believe you guys were 15 for 37 with runners in scoring position. What just leads to such relentless at-bats?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: We make a lot of contact. That's been evident throughout the year. Again, I'm going to deflect credit to hitting coaches -- Pop and Lou and Hunter -- for guys going up there with a plan.

I think kind of the epitome of it is Nathan Lukes facing Devin Williams knowing he's probably going to get a fastball with Vlad sitting on deck and not being afraid to commit to it when the change-up is his best pitch. So I think guys have a plan when they go up there, and we try to utilize everyone's skill set to the best that we can.

It comes and it goes. We've been pretty consistent over the year with guys in scoring position, but I just think kind of how we're built helps that a lot too.

Q. Is it much more difficult to manage a bullpen game than a game with a conventional starting pitcher?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I've thought about that quite a bit for the last couple years. This answer may surprise you, but no. It's almost harder to manage when you have veteran pitchers that you trust and that have been through it before. And sometimes you push them too far, to be honest with you.

So I think learning from past mistakes or successes gets us a little better to navigate a game like today. Again, you're kind of mapping out best possible scenarios, and the guys have to go do their part. Again, it's not fun, per se, but I think we view it as a good challenge. And our guys have really kind of accepted that this year and done really well with it.

Q. Ultimately, what was the difference in you winning and the Yankees not winning?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I mean, we got the big hit. Lukey got the big hit, took advantage of a miscue that they made, much like they did to us yesterday defensively. So I think that was kind of the turning point.

We put the ball in play when we needed to, and we struck guys out when we needed to, which is kind of what you're shooting for.

Q. Much like last week, now you guys get a break and your opponent will be going the distance again. How does that help you as you look forward?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's nice to take a deep breath. It's really nice to go home and know that we're playing at home, and it's nice to kind of sort through what we think is the best way to try to beat whoever we're going to play.

It allows some guys to hopefully get a little bit more healthy. It allows some guys to get a little bit of rest after what was a very emotional, hard-fought four games against the Yankees.

We'll enjoy tonight, and we'll start figuring out the next series when we make up.

Q. You talked about everybody making contributions on this team, but you got to talk a little bit about that bottom third the lineup, particularly Ernie, he's batting .643.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think Ernie Clement has kind of made everyone aware of how good he is. It's been like that the whole year for the bottom part of our lineup. You try to navigate it to where guys can put the ball in play, guys can get on base for guys at the top.

They've been unbelievable all year. Ernie had an unbelievable first postseason series for a guy that has been through it a little bit. I think he kind of epitomizes what we are in terms of how we play. So I'm thrilled for him, but the bottom part of our lineup has been relentless the entire season.