How Davis Schneider went from South Jersey baseball star to making history with the Blue Jays

Rob Christ immediately noticed there was something special about the 8-year-old on the baseball diamond.

Christ, the baseball coach at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, holds youth camps in the summers. Another teacher at the school, Elena Schneider, brought her youngest son Davis out one day.

“He stood out even then,” Christ said. “He was the most competitive kid in the camps.”

That was where Christ got the first look at his future third baseman, who would rewrite the Vikings record book at the plate over his four years. And about 17 years later, that 8-year-old kid from Berlin started in left field for the Toronto Blue Jays when they visited the Phillies this week.

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Schneider, 25, grew up watching Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Roy Halladay play at Citizens Bank Park, but Tuesday marked his first time playing there himself since his debut in August.

“Sometimes I still don’t believe it’s true, you know?” Schneider said. “My parents did a good job of supporting me; even if I never made it, I felt like they were always going to be supportive no matter what I did. … But sometimes it doesn’t still feel like it’s true, like hitting BP with Justin Turner, George Springer. It’s still pretty surreal to me.”

Though he’s a Toronto Blue Jay, there are still Phillies connections everywhere he turns. Schneider has photos of himself as a kid at the Bank wearing a Darren Daulton jersey. Schneider’s teammate Daulton Varsho, son of former Phillies player, manager, and coach Gary Varsho, was named after the late Phils catcher.

Schneider also made headlines last year for his glove, which he picked out of the lost-and-found at the facility where he trains, with no idea that it used to belong to late Phillies player and coach John Vukovich. Schneider still uses that Mizuno with “VUK” written on the wrist strap as his infield glove.

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In 2017, Schneider was drafted out of Eastern by Toronto in the 28th round. The MLB draft isn’t even that long anymore, after it was shortened from 40 to 20 rounds in 2020. No graduate of Schneider’s high school had ever made it to the major leagues. He had never cracked MLB’s top 100 prospect list.

“The one thing that people don’t do is bet against Davis,” Christ said.

Schneider ascended from high Class A to triple A in 2022, and last August he got the call. The moment somehow became even more special when Schneider learned he would make his debut at Fenway Park against the Red Sox. Davis’ older brother Steven was a Boston fan. Steven died in November 2020 at age 26.

Davis and Steven were almost five years apart, but Elena said they, along with their two sisters, were very close.

“Davis is such a good athlete because his brother was such a good athlete,” she said. “Never ever, ever, ever did Steven not include his brother. Always came with him, always included him.”

Davis stepped in the batter’s box for the first time as a major leaguer and sent the third pitch he saw over the Green Monster. It kicked off a historic start in which he became the first MLB player to record nine hits and two home runs in his first three games.

In the final game of the series, Schneider blasted a two-run shot that went 425 feet. Steven’s birthday was April 25 — or 4/25.

As the family was leaving the park, Elena saw another sign from her older son on the Green Monster’s mechanical scoreboard.

“In the third inning, the Blue Jays scored four runs,” she said. “In the fourth inning, it was Davis’ two-run home run that went outside of Fenway Park, onto Lansdowne Street. And then in the fifth inning, they scored five runs. So if you look at the scoreboard, it says 425.

“I know that there was an angel there. I know Steven was present.”

Since his picture-perfect debut, Davis earned a regular roster spot with the Jays as a utility player, splitting time between left field, second base, and third. He finished the 2023 season with the big league club and cracked the opening-day roster this year.

“The people around me, and my family and friends, the good teammates that I have, I feel like it’s a big thing,” Schneider said. “I wouldn’t have the success I had last year, even this year, without the group of guys I have behind me. A good environment makes it go a long way.”

Entering Tuesday night’s game in Philly, when he went 0-for-3 with a walk, Schneider was batting .385 over his last 10 games, the highest on the team in that span. In Wednesday’s series finale, Schneider finished 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI single and a walk.

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“He is the poster child for character,” Christ said. “He’s a great kid. He’s affable. He’s industrious. He is kindhearted. He is conscientious. He is reverent. He’s just a wonderful human being, and that, in large part, in my estimation, is why he’s so successful.”

The love for Schneider from his hometown of Berlin was clear on Tuesday, with loud cheers from his many friends in attendance every time he stepped up to the plate. And Elena thinks Toronto has embraced Davis just as much. He has become well known for his mustache, which he was inspired to grow in 2022 by the movie Top Gun.

Now that Elena and her husband, Steve, are retired, they’re able to travel to see Davis play more frequently, which includes trips north of the border.

“There were just so many people telling us how nice Davis is and how gracious he is with his time,” she said. “He doesn’t walk by. He stops and take selfies, and gives autographs, and he’s just so kind. That’s the way Davis is, and that’s the part of Davis that I do believe he gets from his brother.”