Blair & Barker
Progress in the Bronx with John Schneider + Skubal's Trade Value with Jeff Passan
22 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
All right, welcome back to Blair and Barker brought to you by Capital One. Capital One giving Canadians credit for 30 years. We have sent Mr. Barker off to the Rogers Center where he will be doing... There he is. Where he will be doing Blue Jays talk. Or Blue Jays talk. He won't be doing Blue Jays talk, unfortunately.
He'll be doing Blue Jays Central tonight with Brad Fay as the Jays and Pirates open a three-game series at the Rogers Center. First pitch, 7-0-7. I'll be doing... Blue Jays talk tonight from the stadium with the lovely and talented Sho Ali following the game. So that's why that seat is empty. But Kevin was here earlier.
And while he was here, we had a chance to interview the skipper of the Toronto Blue Jays, John Schneider, as per usual on a Friday. So without further ado. Here is the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, John Schneider. John, thanks for joining us as always. Just if you could get this going, give us some updates on Shane Bieber, Alejandro Kirk, Nathan Lucas, and Addison Barger, if you could.
Yeah, pretty good news on all fronts. Beavis is going to start his rehab game progression on Monday at the FCL, the only team playing on Monday. Probably go two innings and then assuming all goes well, get him in Dunedin the next time three innings and then he'll probably travel up here. see where to go from there, whether it's double-A or triple-A.
Lukey is off today, played the last two games, did well yesterday, two hits, hit a home run. He's feeling good. He'll keep playing in Dunedin tomorrow and then possibly on Sunday. And he then will travel up here and kind of figure out if he's going to be ready to roll or continue to play in triple-A. Kirky is going to be here this weekend with us to kind of continue to ramp
He's been catching is like, you know, I don't want to say perfectly fine, but almost perfectly fine. So he'll get, you know, ramping up hitting here, hopefully off the machine and on the field. And, you know, that'll get him pretty close to getting into games. And then Barge hopefully starting.
He's been a little bit slower a couple of days behind, but hopefully starting hitting and throwing here this weekend with us.
So you're getting some of your guys back in the not-too-distant future, which sounds great.
Yeah, trending in the right direction.
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Chapter 2: What injury updates did John Schneider provide for the Blue Jays?
You know, hitters go through it when you get a little bit quick sometimes. And I think that's the case with Kaz right now.
What's helped Andres look the part with his at-bats at the plate?
I think just having, you know, a consistent approach. You know what I mean? He's, you know, the 11-pitch walk, you know, I call that the at-bat of the season, you know, minus the ball being put in play, obviously. But, you know, He's kind of just doing what the situation calls for, really, and quietly, you know, being a pretty good run producer for us. So it's not trying to be too big.
It's not trying to be, you know, he's not playing defense on the offense, if that makes sense. I feel like there was a time last year where he was doing that, where he was a little bit a little bit passive and not really swinging with some intent. So he's kind of doing just a consistent thing every single time. His approach with two strikes has been awesome.
I know his numbers suggest that, even batting average-wise, too. So he's in a pretty good spot approach-wise.
I'm wondering, John, when you look at those results in New York, and again, you won the last two. You had a couple of two-run losses. Did you learn anything? Now, I'll rephrase that. Do you think your team learned anything about themselves from that series, or do you think they feel a little bit better about themselves from that series?
I think so, yeah. You know, the first couple games, you know, I agree with you where we definitely could have won at least three there. And I think, you know, every team is a little bit different. I think against, you know, the Yankees, you've got to limit walks. And when you limit walks, you know, they're built around, you know, walks and home runs. They're good at both of those things.
And that was kind of the story in the first two games. So I think kind of adjusting from there and, you know, And understanding that every team has its strengths and its holes. And I think just keeping traffic off the bases was huge. And that goes for any team, really. You know what I mean? So our pitching is, I think, in a good place.
And I think that guys are doing a better job of staying on the attack and putting guys away. So that's from a pitching side. I think that We played good defense in New York. I feel like we were in the base as well, you know, going first to third, you know, we stole three bases, guys are getting down the line.
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Chapter 3: How is the Blue Jays' offensive performance trending after the Yankees series?
What are some of the challenges for your lineup, especially when your lineup has been chasing as much as they have been here, you know, lately?
Yeah, I mean, we know there's obviously some chase with some guys, right? And there's been some unexpected increase in chase with some guys. Really, really shrinking the zone. It's not being in a hurry. You go back and you watch his last game against the Phils, and they weren't in a hurry. You know what I mean? And he's pretty deliberate.
He's got great stuff, electric fastball, but he's pretty deliberate with what pitches he's throwing at certain hitters. And you can't be in a rush. You know what I mean? If he's if he's gotten early first time through, OK, maybe you can make an adjustment, but you got to make him get the ball over the plate and you got to really strengthen strike zone.
So that's that's something we've been talking about for a while. This is a really good example of doing just that. You know, you got to. You got to really, really be disciplined to where you're swinging. And if it's not there, you can't budge. And it's okay to have a strike on you. It's okay to have two strikes on you. You got to just get him really in the middle of the zone.
John, what do you think the key is tonight for Kevin Gosman against a pretty decent offensive team like the pirates, especially when in his last start, he just didn't have the horizontal break. I think that normally he would like to have with the split finger, you know, coming into the night, is there a,
a change, a mechanical change to, you know, a different grip, maybe to get it moving the way he wants it to be moving.
No, I don't, I don't think anything different would care to me. It always starts with the fastball location. If he's getting it at the top and the bottom of the zone.
And if he's doing that, even with the split, isn't carrying, you know, it's still, that's in the back of hitters minds and he can, you know, use that to his advantage, which I thought he did in Detroit, you know, where it wasn't really carrying or landing the split as much as he wanted and, He got some strikeouts with some fastballs. So that's it with Kev. Delivery's been the same.
Grip's been the same. It's a unique pitch. Sometimes it's dancing a little bit more than other times. So starts and ends with fastball velocity, and then it splits carry, and I think he'll be just fine. But you're right, man. They've done a good job of improving their offense. They've got some veteran guys in there now with some good young players too.
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Chapter 4: What adjustments are being made to improve the Blue Jays' hitting?
Absolutely. Be well, John. Thanks guys. Talk to you soon.
That was John Schneider, manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, in conversation with Blair and Barker a little earlier today before Barker scooted off to do Blue Jays Central tonight at the ballpark. If you're down at the ballpark, drop by and stay high. 7.07 will be the first pitch. Bubba Chandler against Kevin Gossman. As the Jays come back from, as John Schneider mentioned, a 4-3 road trip.
taking two of four from the Yankees, losing a couple of one-run games, winning the last two games, and getting some awfully, awfully, awfully good pitching along the way. I mean, they really did. I don't know about winning four games, but they definitely had a chance to take three of those games with just a little more timely hitting.
But I think most of us would have taken a split against the Yankees after that series win against the Tigers. We've been giving you the chance to win Blue Jays tickets all season long here in Blair and Barker. We'll probably continue to do that as well. All you have to do is text the correct answer to our daily baseball trivia question to 59590. Standard message and data rates may apply.
Our last question and answer was... He played for the Marlins for one season and the Blue Jays for three. He's a five-time All-Star and a standout fielder, winning four gold gloves at his position. Despite his tenures in Miami and Toronto, his greatest career accomplishments came when he played in the AL Central. This is a tricky question. The answer is Mark Burley.
So I know what you're all thinking, four-goal gloves position player. Mark Burley won four-goal gloves as a pitcher. Mark Boffo, our producer, really reached the depths for that one. Well done. Today's question is to win tickets to see the Jays and Marlins on May 27th at the Rogers Center. He joined Blair and Barker as a guest during the 2025 postseason.
He played three seasons for the Marlins and seven seasons for the Blue Jays, winning a World Series with each team. He has a son who is currently... a starting pitcher on an American League club. Again, he joined Blair and Barker as a guest during the 2025 season. He played three seasons for the Marlins and seven seasons for the Blue Jays, winning a World Series with each team.
He has a son who is currently a starting pitcher on an American League club. You can text the answer to 590-590 for your shot to win. See rules at sportsnet.ca slash 590. Standard message and data rates may apply. Well done. We'll let the drums, let the drums play us out a bit. The Jays lineup for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates is as follows. Kevin Gossman on the mound, of course.
George Springer leading off at DH. Vladdy hitting second again at third, at first. Dalton Varshow is in center field. Okamoto is at third. Penaing goes in left field. Clements at second. Sanchez in right. Brandon Valenzuela behind the plate. Andres Jimenez. At shortstop, and as we mentioned, Kevin Gossman on the mound against Bubba Chandler, who will get the start for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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Chapter 5: What insights did John Schneider share about Adam Macko's potential?
Even if those two are healthy, though, don't you still... go after Scooble when you know you've gotten as good at developing players as you have. I mean, I look at someone like James Tibbs in their system. And James Tibbs got drafted by the Giants, didn't work there, went to the Red Sox, and they flipped him pretty quickly to get Dustin May at the deadline last year. And
All Tibbs is doing is hitting for power at the high levels of the minor leagues for the Dodgers. But it's not just him they have down there. They have Josue DiPaola. They have Zaire Hope. They have real outfield depth and they have real starting pitching depth. You know, those are two things that the Tigers absolutely would love to have.
And I think they understand that while they couldn't trade Scooble, or I suppose chose not to trade Scooble before the beginning of the season, they knew that that was not the right move for their future. It was a win now thing. If they can say we tried to win now, it didn't work, and still go out and get 90% of what they could have this winter, which I think they actually probably can now,
that could be the kind of thing that sets the Tigers up for years going forward.
Yeah, no, it is definitely going to be an interesting situation. Another interesting situation tonight, we get to see Garrett Cole back after, I think, 500 and some days. The Yankees are taking on the Rays. The Rays currently lead the AL East. I shouldn't laugh. They currently lead the AL East by four and a half games over the Yankees.
Yeah.
Pretty basic question here, Jeff. But with Garrett Cole coming back, is he enough to put the Yankees over the Rays? Or are we possibly seeing one of those years from the Rays where it really doesn't matter, you know, what the Yankees do? The Rays are going to do these things.
Yeah, have you looked at the Rays' stats this year?
Not in depth.
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Chapter 6: How is Brandon Valenzuela developing as a player?
Yeah. Wow. Because you get bored of it. No, it's not even boredom. It's just looking at the... I'm not going to say the fallacy of numbers, but this is the issue with relying on numbers. The Cleveland Guardians, you look at their numbers every year, and they tell you in a very plain way, this team is not that good. But the numbers are wrong.
And sometimes, you know, you can look at wins above replacement, and the whole idea behind that is that a team full of AAA players, essentially replacement-level players, would win you about 40 games. How many wins on top of that does your big league club's production give you? And, you know, I see it every year. The Guardians just outplayed their war. And I give them a lot of respect for that.
It's just an extremely well-run organization.
You know, you did an article on the Kansas Jayhawks and ESPN and the way they've put their program together. And it just so happened that I was talking with a friend of mine the other day, and we started... Well, it got in... I was slagging college football, okay? I was slagging college football on TV. Barker made a big deal of it.
And this guy, a friend of mine, said, come on, man, what's wrong with college football? And we got in the whole thing. And then he just asked me, you know, he said... we started talking about name, image and likeness, right? And NIL and NIL rights and all that. The guy actually brought, he said, is that a thing in baseball?
Like, and I thought, you know what, with the draft coming up, I'm going to ask Passon. And then lo and behold, you do a story on, on, on Kansas, on Kansas. Is it a thing in baseball? Like, does it have any impact on the draft or anything like that?
It has a big impact on the draft. Now, It's not to the level of college football where quarterbacks are getting multiple millions of dollars a year. But, you know, a few years ago, for example, a right-handed pitcher named William Schmidt had a big NIL deal from LSU. And it's the kind of thing that allows you during negotiations for the draft to
to have a point of leverage previously players had zero leverage other than i'm going to school if you don't give me this now it's i'm going to school if you don't give me this because this is what i have from the university and uh it does it play a huge role in pushing guys to college no not necessarily but i i think part of it also is that
through throughout the last decade or so because high school arms it's not that they've fallen out of favor it's just that teams are so analytical now that they go and look through the course of history with high school arms and recognize that there's a lot of risk with them there's also great reward with them and that's why there are some organizations that look at high school arms and say you know what we're going to take the chance because the upside is as big as it is uh but
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