Blue Jays - 6, Dodgers - 1
Q. Just to start, what do you make of what Trey did on the mound today?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: He was pretty good. (Laughing.)
Historic stuff. When you talk about that stage and his numbers, getting ahead of a lot of hitters, tons of swing-and-miss. It's one thing to be in the zone, and it's another thing to be in the zone and get some swing-and-miss.
So slider and split were electric. I said it before the game, it's a different pitcher when he has his stuff. Game 1 didn't have a feel for his split, so kind of blown away at what he did.
Q. You guys seem to be very aggressive on Snell's fastball early in the game, and Schneider and Guerrero ambushed a couple there. Was that part of the game plan going into today?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah. You never know what adjustments pitchers are going to make when you're facing them again in a series. Yeah, that was kind of the plan. I think after that, he threw a lot of sliders, changeup, curveballs. You have to be able to adapt.
So against a guy like him -- you know, I know in Game 1, we fouled off a ton of pitches and made him work. You have to be ready to hit when he comes over the middle of the plate. So Schneid was and Vlad was. That was a good start for us, you know, to get a little two-run cushion for Trey in this environment. But, yeah, that was the approach going in, to be ready to hit.
Q. Before Trey arrived, you were already obviously a very good team, but how has he changed this team and changed this team's ceiling, what they're capable of this season?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: A lot, man. Thinking back to when we called him up, I think it was with 12, 13 games left in the season, you're kind of taking a shot to just bring more talent in, and you're not really sure of how it's going to unfold or what role he's going to be in. Yeah, I said it before the game, man, regular season's going to be pretty normal for him, I think.
But he's definitely raised the ceiling, for sure. I mean, we're talking about a guy that not only is he performing well, but he's handling a lot of stuff well. Handling the preparation, handling the media, handling his teammates really well too.
Q. Curious to know the ripple effect from Trey's performance tonight and in this postseason for the entire organization. What's your message to the minor leaguers who are hoping to do something similar to what Trey has done? He's obviously one of one, but how does this affect the entire organization?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think this year more than any year that I've been here we've been very aligned with our player development system and what we're trying to do here. I think the fact that we were willing to call him up, the fact that we were willing to throw him right into the fire because we felt confident in the work he had done in the minor leagues speaks volumes to how we feel about everyone in the organization, not just players, but staff too, and us being aligned is a big thing.
Q. Do you remember, the very first batter Trey faced was Ohtani, hits a ground ball back to the mound, and he kind of bobbled it, dropped it, and, like, very casually picked it up and flipped it over --
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Kind of a shovel pass, yeah.
Q. You see young guys, like, panic in that situation. He looked extremely calm. What does a play like that say about his incredible poise on a stage like this?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, that's a weird example of poise. I think pitchers in general handling the baseball, but then when you mishandle it, it can get a little squirrely. But the fact that he kind of shoveled it the way he did and kind of had a little smile on his face, it actually gives you a little bit of confidence that he's in the right frame of mind.
Q. You had a cushion a little bit with the extra runs in the 7th inning. Did that help the decision to go back to Trey in the 7th or was he going in any way?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, he was going in, man. It's kind of uncharted territory for him in terms of pitches and innings. I told Pete after the 6th, I said, I don't think there's anyone better in our bullpen right now, just kind of watching in real time. So the layoff in that inning kind of played a part of it. He did a great job of keeping himself moving, and he kept saying, I feel great, I feel great. It's just an unbelievable performance by him.
Q. Did you guys have a strategy to jump on Blake's fastball early, and if so, why did you come up with it?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Against a really good pitcher like him, you have to be ready to hit. He's going to come after you, he's going to challenge you. I think those two swings from Schneid and from Vlad -- you know, first at-bat of a game is always a little bit different. There's a lot of guys that swing at the first pitch. So we wanted to be aggressive on balls that were in the middle of the zone. Vlad was a little different, a little bit in, but that's been our strategy against really good pitchers. There's a time to grind 'em and there's a time to be ready to hit. Just pretty cool it worked out the way it did.
Q. Was there any tell on the fastball you were looking at?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Any what?
Q. Any tell on the fastball you were looking at?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Any tell? No, I mean, he's got a great -- he's got great weapons. I think that any hitter will tell you against a guy like that, when you know he's going to challenge you, you got to be ready for the fastball.
Q. Obviously, you have the amount of talent that you have in your organization and in your bullpen as well. How does Kirk factor in that success from your pitching staff as well?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Kirky has evolved so much this year, and he's evolved so much in the postseason in terms of handling the staff, calling a game, making adjustments. In order to get to where you want to get to, I've always said it -- not because I'm a former really bad minor league catcher, but because you need a good catcher, you need a steady presence back there, and he has been absolutely nails this entire postseason.
Q. Andrés Giménez has run a couple of pretty deep counts in late innings last night and tonight. It seemed like pretty high-leverage spots. Is there anything contagious about that or just those are -- are those just individually great plate appearances?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: With Gimi -- yeah, I feel like with a lot of these guys, they're just ready for the situation when it comes up, whether it's getting a guy like -- Barger getting a guy over, Barger, his reads on the bases kind of manufacturing a run. These guys are locked into what needs to be done in real time. That's a sign of a really mentally tough team and a really mentally prepared team. Gimi's a baseball player. I said it before the game, man, you get a lot of baseball players around each other, it does get contagious.
Q. How does it feel to be giving the ball to Kevin Gausman with a chance to take the whole thing?
JOHN SCHNEIDER: Great. It always feels good to give Kev the ball. Again, man, this was nice, this was a big performance from a lot of different people individually, but collectively as a team, this was a very, very good team win.
But to give the ball to Kev, you love it. You love it every time whether it's in spring training or whether it's in the World Series. We know that it's going to be another tough arm in Yamamoto, it's going to be another tough game. So we'll enjoy the flight, we'll enjoy it right now, and Kev will be ready to go. I can't wait to see what the Rogers Centre is going to look, feel, and sound like. But I can't wait to have Kev take the mound for us.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports