MLB WORLD SERIES: DODGERS VS BLUE JAYS

October 24, 2025

John Schneider

Rogers Centre

Toronto Blue Jays

Postgame 1 Press Conference

Blue Jays - 11, Dodgers - 4

Q. Was that a quintessential John Schneider Blue Jays all-hands-on-deck kind of victory tonight?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, that's kind of how we roll. So much credit to the guys up and down the lineup being ready to come into the game. They were ready during BP, talking to Nate, talking to Izzy, Addy. Those at-bats in that inning started with Bo's walk, then a knock, and it kind of just kept on going. Those were some pretty terrific at-bats from everyone up and down the order, yeah.

Q. You're calling card all year has been making pitchers work. How much of that played into what do you think happened in kind of like later on? Because you guys really forced a lot of deep counts on Snell early.

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, we talked about it earlier. Varsh just missed a breaking ball, I think, in the first, but it's 29 pitches. He made him work. Not a lot of swing-and-miss. That's kind of what we wanted to do against him and then hopefully sooner or later he makes a mistake and then Varsh capitalized.

Then in the 6th there, just really good at-bats. Then carried it over into their bullpen. So again, it was really a good approach from everyone today. Then you got to get ready for tomorrow against another really tough pitcher.

Q. You've seen big innings before, but given the stage of the World Series, what was it like for you personally to see Barger's big moment and how the rest of that inning played out?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Man, I was just talking to Max, who's been through basically everything, and just hearing him say, you know, never really felt an inning like that in the World Series. My vantage point was pretty cool.

I mean, Nate's at-bat to work a walk after being down 0-2, Gimi gets the hit, and then I'm trying to force a lefty there. It's one out, you trust Barg to have a good approach to hopefully hit a sac fly, and then you get Vladdy against Banda. And Barg, man, he didn't budge. He was ready to go and hit a mistake pitch. So that was a little bit more than what we could have hoped for. But that inning, to watch those guys navigate that was pretty cool.

Q. What have you seen from Varsho these last three years? It seems like he gets more and more power every year. And how has he developed that power and also how big was that last at-bat against Snell to draw that walk and knock him out?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, Varsh has been -- I wish Varsh was healthy the whole year, for him and for us, but mainly for him. But he's made some adjustments. He's always kind of had this potential. The adjustments he made with Pop and Lou and Hunter, even going back to the off-season when he had surgery and when he started hitting, he had a really specific plan what he wanted to do.

So he's been good against lefties, he's been good against righties, and I think he's kind of just coming into a complete player. We always think about his defense and his base running, but the added threat there with the power is huge.

Q. How could you describe Alejandro Kirk's performance tonight and what does that guy bring to the table inside and outside the field?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, he's just so steady. That's one of -- I said it before, it's one of the many things we love about him. It's hard to catch and formulate a game plan with a young starter, multiple pitchers coming in against a really tough lineup. I thought he did a great job behind the plate. His at-bats were awesome.

Again, you never really know Kirky's -- you never really know when he can do that. He did it against the Yankees, and he's had some good at-bats that haven't resulted in what he wanted, but just to hit the ball to right field, be smart enough to not try to stretch it into a double, and allowing Varsh to do what he did. But Kirky has been so, so steady all year both at the plate and behind the plate.

Q. Big picture, you're 1-0 as a World Series manager. How does that feel?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It feels great right now. In about 10 minutes, tomorrow's tomorrow. So I'm happy for the guys, I'm happy for the way they all kind of did their part today.

For me personally for the Next 10 minutes, coolest part of my day was catching Cito's first pitch. The guy's a legend and to hear him say the things he did about my team and me, pretty damn cool tonight.

Q. We've heard sometimes how Addison Barger doesn't know who is playing the next day, doesn't worry about things like that. How much does that mindset help dropped into a spot like that tonight?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I mean, he keeps things simple. I think he has a great back-and-forth with our hitting coaches. In this stage of the season, if you're starting or if you're not starting, there's a pretty specific approach and plan with what you're trying to do. For a young guy to go out and execute is another thing. So a really cool moment for him. First pinch hit grand slam in World Series history. That's a really cool moment. Addy's been so big for us this year, and I hope he doesn't know who is pitching tomorrow.

Q. Varsho has also, as you were talking about before, but that's -- I mean, I know he was hurt a lot of year, but that's the first home run Blake Snell's given up to a left-handed batter all season. We have seen Varsho do that before. What did you see there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I saw him -- you know, I believe his first at-bat was a breaking ball that he kind of just missed, and I saw him being ready to attack a fastball. Again, these games -- again, tomorrow will be a different set of circumstances, but these games come down to players in the moment making adjustments and executing. Blake is a damn good pitcher. You're going to have to do something like that, make him work early, hopefully you hit a mistake. But Varsh and everyone in there is not going to back down, which is what I love about this group.

Q. What were your impressions of Bo tonight at the plate and in the field and what led to the decision to pinch run for him there in the 6th?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I thought Bo offensively looked like him. He gets a knock on a 3-0 changeup and then working the walk, man, was really impressive. Bo's a tough guy to walk. He's up there ready to hit. So I thought he handled himself really well. His at-bats looked like him. The play up the middle was kind of the thing we were looking for, and he handled it, made a good throw.

That was kind of the plan going in, was to see if we can get him three at-bats against a starter, see how he's feeling, and probably take it a little bit -- play it a little bit cautiously from there. So I loved the fact that he was the guy that kind of started that 6th inning.

Q. You've spoken about the trust you have in this whole roster, but to have the options you do on the bench, like, you were able to turn two in the bottom of the 6th, how easy does that make your job as a manager?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: It's never easy, man, but these guys make me look good more times than not. But I think having -- it's a long list of things that have to happen. It's communicating to them before the game, it's Donnie telling them in game, and then it's the hitting coaches getting them ready. I just love the fact that they're all ready to play and they know what their skill set is. Nate, in there, you're trying to make contact with that situation and he ends up working a walk. Addy, you know, just trying -- he's trying to hit a sac fly, probably. I haven't talked to him, really. He's been busy.

But it is nice that we can be versatile and try to grasp some matchups and we've been doing it all year.

Q. Did you anticipate Bo would be favoring the knee out there as much as he was?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I didn't really know. We talked to him throughout the game, and you didn't know how much adrenaline was going to kick in or not. This guy hasn't played in seven weeks. This is a tough ask. Hey, go play a position you haven't played all year. It's Game 1 of the World Series. Go do it. He did it. Everyone's grinding right now. But I'm so happy for him that he had the mindset coming in to just say, hey, I want to help, I want to fit in, and he did tonight. He did. He's been the focal point of our offense for a long time and to come in and not try to do too much was impressive. See how he wakes up tomorrow. But man, he was awesome tonight.

Q. And with Bo and Daulton and Vladdy, can you tell they're sons of former players just from their knowledge?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I feel like we've had a lot of those guys over the course of my time here, and they're baseball players, man. I think that you never really know how guys are going to respond in their first World Series, right? That's a real thing. But the way they conduct themselves and how they prepare and how they see the game, obviously, is to their benefit.

Q. How important is the crowd and the energy in this kind of situation in this kind of game?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: The crowd was electric tonight. They have been waiting a long time for a World Series to come back here. I hope that they're just as loud, if not louder, tomorrow. It's not very often you get a feeling like we had in Game 7 or tonight in the 6th inning. You can't take it for granted. This is a special place to play. Everyone here in this city here, in this building, and across the country, we feel it for sure. Again, it's nice, but you got to get ready for tomorrow.

Q. Further on the crowd in the 9th with Shohei up, were you able to make out that, whether it was, We don't need him, or We don't need you chant and how did you feel about the crowd getting involved there?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I just wanted to get the third out. I love energetic fan bases. It happens in different ways and shapes and forms in every stadium. We saw it just the last series in Seattle. Kind of heard it, but it's tough to talk about a player like that, to be honest with you. He's special. I'm glad that the home run that he hit came when it came and we had a little cushion. But I love that our fans are passionate about our team.