November 19, 2023
Davis Schneider was a feel good story in 2023. Schneider, who took the major leagues by storm after his August call-up; has come a long way from being a 28th round pick in 2017 to a potential MLB regular.
Slashing .276/.404/.603 with an OPS of 1.008 after 116 big league at-bats; was an impressive start for the up-and-coming utility player.
He found the transition to the big leagues easier than expected, “The transition to the bigs wasn’t as big as I thought,” stated Schneider. “It was more mental than anything else. The MLB is definitely the best talent in the world but my teammates made me realize these guys are human too and they make mistakes and it’s all about capitalizing on mistakes up there. Once I realized that, it made me more relaxed and comfortable.”
Another thing that helped Schneider was just sticking to his game at the plate.
“Since we used the ABS in Triple-A, it was a lot easier to hone down on pitches and zones,” explained Schneider. “But obviously the pitching in the bigs is better but I couldn’t give in to the pitchers’ pitches. I know what I can do well at the plate and I have to stick to that each time up. Doing that helped me stay in control and not get too jumpy at the plate.”
Schneider felt comfortable in the field as he played mostly second base in the majors.
“Second base is my home now,” said Schneider. “It’s definitely my most comfortable position that I’ve been playing, but I’m comfortable in LF too. It’s all about getting reps in practice and once I did that, I got more and more comfortable each time.”
Keep it up, Davis Schneider!