John Schneider suffered seven documented concussions during his playing career and the risks posed by the potential of an eighth led him to hang up his spikes in the spring of 2008.
“I got to the point to where I was kind of diagnosing myself after foul balls,” the now manager of the Toronto Blue Jays said Saturday. “I would look at the scoreboard and if it was blurry, I would just walk off the field, and if I was good, I’d just be like, all right, I’m good. It’s a little different. But I’ve been through the wringer of concussion protocol and the impact tests that everyone does. I’d probably fail one right now, to be honest with you.”
Those experiences are why he has what he calls a “soft spot” for players who suffer blows to the head, like the one Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took in the sixth inning of Friday night’s 3-1 win over the New York Yankees. A pair of defensive miscues led to Guerrero sliding into third base as shortstop George Lombard Jr. scrambled to cover the bag, an errant throw pulling the rookie into the slugger’s path, knee and thigh clipping him in the head.
Guerrero quickly got up and scampered home, grimacing after he crossed the plate and soon after leaving the dugout with what Schneider said was a headache. That’s one of the red-flag symptoms in the SCAT5 sport concussion assessment tool Major League Baseball uses as part of its concussion protocol, and led to Guerrero’s placement on the seven-day concussion injured list Saturday.
It’s the first stint on an injured list for Guerrero since a 2018 knee injury when he was in double-A and Saturday was the 10th game he’s missed this season, after missing only 18 games total from 2020 through 2025.
Before the Blue Jays made the concussion decision, Schneider said Guerrero was “kind of feeling the same-ish” as he was Friday, prompting the club to select outfielder Daz Cameron to the roster.
“Vlad’s lucky he’s as sturdy as he is because he got squared up pretty good,” said Schneider. “It was knee and thigh that hit him. If it was more knee we’re talking like, holy (crap). But he still got him pretty good.”
Guerrero must now follow a set of MLB-mandated steps before he returns, which include completion of a Return to Play form and supporting information for approval by the league’s medical director. All players undergo baseline cognitive testing that Guerrero’s status will be checked against.
In his absence, the Blue Jays plan to use a combination of Charles McAdoo and Kazuma Okamoto at first base, with Cameron, signed to a minor-league deal in July, giving the Blue Jays another right-handed bat to use for match-ups. The Yankees start Ryan Weathers on Sunday and fellow lefty Ian Seymour is a possibility for the Tampa Bay Rays next week, depending on if Shane McClanahan is reinserted into their rotation Monday.
“Could have went a couple of different ways, but you want to call a guy up when he’s doing well, too,” Schneider said of the 29-year-old batting .368/.455/.586 in 25 games with triple-A Buffalo. “Mainly the left-handed component.”
