John Schneider issues bold warning as Blue Jays prepare to answer Dodgers in World Series Game 4

John Schneider has not lost faith in his players following a brutal Game 3 of the World Series, which the Toronto Blue Jays unfortunately lost again. However, for the manager, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ victory is not the end of the world.

“This group is going to be ready to play tomorrow…” Schneider said, offering a clear warning about his team’s readiness for Game 4. He also clarified, “…the Dodgers didn’t win the World Series today, they won a game,” in an effort to boost morale.

Eighteen innings apparently posed “not at all” a challenge for Schneider, who dismissed the significance of it being one of the longest World Series games. He insisted that the Toronto players “enjoy it, they were in the right mind set, head space during the entire time.” For Schneider, the late finish was irrelevant; the team would be ready regardless.

Schneider’s plan against Ohtani

Part of the strategy Schneider plans to execute to contain Ohtani and other key Dodgers players for the rest of the World Series appears to involve intentional walks. They applied this tactic several times against the Japanese star in Game 3, but the Blue Jays acknowledge the danger of doing so given the other elite batters waiting in the lineup.

“It’s not the easiest thing in the world to just walk him [Ohtani] and face Mookie and Freddie,” Schneider said. “So every situation is different. You got to really execute at a high level against him. I think the first couple games we did. I know he hit the homer off [Braydon Fisher] in Game 1, but I think that we executed pretty well minus today [Game 3], and he’s a great player and took some really good swings today.”