Blue Jay’s Manager John Schneider’s Mound Visit Blunder Concealed The Real Issue

Alek Manoah, the Blue Jays starting pitcher, had his Saturday start cut short through no fault of his own but his manager Schneider’s fault of doing a mound visit twice in one inning. He was really taken out of the game against the Baltimore Orioles in the sixth inning when manager John Schneider visited the mound.

Home plate umpire Dan Iassogna walked over to the mound after Schneider was seen momentarily talking strategy with Manoah and the Toronto infielders to let them know that this was Toronto’s second trip to the mound in the inning.

Blue Jay’s Manager John Schneider’s Mound Visit Blunder Concealed The Real Issue

Alex Manoah, the starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays, had a fantastic outing on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles. Through the first five innings, he was mowing down hitters and would have continued to dominate if not for his manager’s oversight.

Schneider did not understand it was the second mound visit in the inning, which was a huge issue. Pete Walker, the pitching coach, had already visited Manoah. Manoah had to leave the game since it is against the rules to use the same pitcher for more than two visits to the mound in an inning. In five and a third innings of two-run baseball, he used 85 pitches.

It’s a major error because there were several coaches on the bench who ought to have stopped it. Manoah pitched 5.2 innings, surrendering two runs while striking out five batters.

You don’t see stuff like this every day. MLB managers are often aware of such issues. Fortunately, Tim Mayza, who was sent in as a relief pitcher, was able to end the inning. Unfortunately, Toronto would end up losing the game in extra innings.

“I [screwed] up,” Schneider said immediately after the 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Orioles, owning the mistake and making it clear that it won’t happen again. “I forgot Pete went out there, because we were talking about a lot of different stuff.”

There was just some silence. I had known Pete had come out there,” Manoah said. “When he started asking me if I wanted to stay in the game, I was like, ‘Well, maybe Pete didn’t come out here?’ I wasn’t sure. I told him I wanted to stay in and pleaded my case, but as he walked away, the umpire was like, ‘Hey, that was your second visit.’”

Given the stage and the pitcher involved, much of the attention following the loss will rest on this move, but it belongs elsewhere.

Starting with the Blue Jays’ recent 1-5 slump against the Yankees and Orioles, let’s talk about their inability to bat with runners on base. One of baseball’s best instances of “something that comes and goes,” it’s hard to turn away after it’s gone.

On Saturday, the Blue Jays were just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position; even if they had been 3-for-15, the narrative would have been different.

They presently hold the 24th and 21st spots in MLB, respectively, with their.237 team average and.704 OPS, respectively. The idea this week has been that the AL East requires urgency. A lineup this talented won’t stay at those statistics forever. In a division that is more than capable of finishing with five winning records, there is no time to waste.

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The Blue Jays have fallen to last place as a result of their five losses in their last six games, all of which were at Rogers Centre. Although the AL East is quite tough, they have a respectable record of 25-21. An 88-win pace in that division is equivalent to last place.

 

 

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