John Schneider (baseball)
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John Patrick Schneider, born February 14, 1980, is an American professional baseball coach, currently at the helm of the Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball. His journey with the Blue Jays began in 2019, and he stepped into the interim manager role on July 13, 2022, before being permanently appointed after the 2022 season. Before his coaching career, Schneider spent six seasons as a catcher in the Blue Jays' minor league system.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey, and raised in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, Schneider graduated from Lawrence High School in 1998. He went on to the University of Delaware, where he excelled for the Fightin' Blue Hens, batting .306 with 23 home runs and 139 RBIs over three seasons. In 2001, he played collegiate summer ball with the Chatham A's. Though drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 24th round of the 2001 MLB draft, he didn't sign, opting instead to be chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round of the 2002 draft. His professional playing career saw him assigned to the Short Season-A Auburn Doubledays in 2002, followed by stints with the Class-A Charleston AlleyCats and Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs in 2003. He spent the entire 2004 season with the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, and in 2005, after a strong start with Dunedin, he was promoted back to Syracuse, though he struggled. In 2006, he played at three minor league levels, including the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but his season was cut short by back surgery. His playing career concluded after the 2007 minor league season, a decision influenced by three concussions sustained during that year.
Following his retirement as a player, Schneider joined the Blue Jays organization as a catching instructor. In 2008, he took the reins as manager of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. His managerial career took a significant step forward on December 1, 2010, when he was promoted to manage the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians, becoming the youngest manager in their history at just 30 years old. He managed the Canadians in 2011, taking a personal leave of absence during the season, yet Vancouver still secured the league championship that year. Schneider returned to the Gulf Coast League in 2013, then managed Vancouver again in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he guided the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts, and in 2017, he led the Dunedin Blue Jays to their first Florida State League championship in 33 years. On January 10, 2018, Schneider was promoted to manage the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, leading them to an Eastern League championship and earning Eastern League Manager of the Year honors at the season's end.
The Blue Jays brought Schneider to their major league coaching staff before the 2019 season to work with their catchers. He even famously pitched to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during the 2019 MLB Home Run Derby. For the 2022 season, Schneider was elevated to the role of bench coach for the Blue Jays.
On July 13, 2022, following the dismissal of Charlie Montoyo, Schneider was named interim manager for the remainder of the season. He made an immediate impact, winning his first game that very night. Under his leadership, the Blue Jays finished with a strong 46–28 record and secured a spot in the 2022 American League Wild Card Series. On October 21, 2022, the Blue Jays officially named Schneider their full-time manager, signing him to a three-year contract with a fourth-year option.
Schneider has two siblings. His older brother, Matt, played college basketball, while his younger brother, Kevin, played college baseball. His parents, David and Cathy, reside in New Jersey. John married his wife, Jessy, in 2015, and they are the proud parents of two sons, Gunner, born in 2016, and Grayson, born in 2018.
John Patrick Schneider (born February 14, 1980) is an American professional baseball coach who is the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He became a coach for the Blue Jays in 2019 and became interim manager on July 13, 2022. After the 2022 season, the Blue Jays hired him as their permanent manager. Prior to coaching, Schneider played six seasons as a catcher in the Blue Jays minor league organization.
== Playing career ==
Born in Princeton, New Jersey and raised in Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, Schneider graduated from Lawrence High School in 1998. He attended the University of Delaware and played college baseball for the Fightin' Blue Hens. In three seasons, he batted .306 with 23 home runs and 139 runs batted in (RBIs). In 2001, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham A's of the Cape Cod Baseball League. Schneider was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 24th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign, and was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round of the 2002 draft. He was assigned to the Short Season-A Auburn Doubledays for the 2002 season, and hit .240 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. The following year, Schneider played for the Class-A Charleston AlleyCats and the Triple-A Syracuse SkyChiefs, and batted .188 with 14 RBIs in 59 games.
Schneider played the entire 2004 season with the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays, appearing in 58 games and batting .206 with six home runs and 28 RBIs. With Dunedin in 2005, he hit .321 in 22 games and was promoted back to Triple-A Syracuse, but struggled to a .179 average through 34 games with the SkyChiefs. Schneider played at three different minor league levels in 2006, including the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but was limited to 34 games due to back surgery. He retired after the 2007 minor league season, due to three concussions suffered during the season.
== Coaching/managerial career ==
After retiring as a player, Schneider was hired by the Blue Jays organization as a catching instructor. In 2008, he became the manager of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. Schneider was promoted to manage the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians on December 1, 2010, and became the youngest manager in team history at 30 years of age. In 2011, he managed the Canadians, but took a personal leave of absence during the season. Vancouver won the league's championship in 2011. Schneider returned to the Gulf Coast League in 2013, and then went back to managing Vancouver in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, he managed the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts, and in 2017, won the first Florida State League championship in the 33-year history of the Dunedin Blue Jays. On January 10, 2018, Schneider was promoted to manage the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and led the team to an Eastern League championship. At the end of the season, he was named the Eastern League Manager of the Year.
The Blue Jays promoted Schneider to their major league coaching staff before the 2019 season to work with Blue Jays catchers. He pitched to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. during the 2019 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The Blue Jays promoted Schneider to become their bench coach for the 2022 season.
On July 13, 2022, the Blue Jays fired Charlie Montoyo as their manager and named Schneider their interim manager for the remainder of the season. He won his first game as manager that night. Schneider led the Blue Jays to a 46–28 (.622) record and to the 2022 American League Wild Card Series as the Blue Jays manager in 2022. On October 21, 2022, the Blue Jays hired Schneider as their full-time manager, and signed him to a three-year contract with an option for a fourth season.
=== Managerial record ===
As of games played on October 8, 2025
== Personal life ==
Schneider has two siblings. His older brother Matt played basketball for Muhlenberg College. His younger brother Kevin played baseball at Monmouth University. His parents David & Cathy live in New Jersey.
Schneider married his wife Jessy in 2015. They have two sons; Gunner, born in 2016, and Grayson, born in 2018.
== References ==
== External links ==
Career statistics from MLB · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors)
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