Blue Jay Davis Schneider deserves your all-star vote - just ask his sisters

CTV National News: Schneider’s rise in baseball Garrett Barry with a look at Davis Schneider career in baseball and the case being made by his sisters for him to be an MLB all star.

He’s got offensive chops and utility on the field — a budding breakout star on the Toronto Blue Jays also has some behind-the-scenes help in his MLB All-Star voting campaign: his two sisters.

Olivia and Madeline Schneider have been rallying Blue Jays fans online and in person to try to send their brother, Davis, to this year’s MLB All-Star Game in Arlington, TX.

He’s a utility player. He started in left field and second base this season, and on the heels of a dramatic walk-off home run that sealed a 14-inning victory for the Blue Jays this week, his fame within the Toronto sports world is skyrocketing.

“It’s one thing that he’s playing well, which he is, but the people who talk to us about how great of a person he is, how nice he is, how he takes time out of his day to talk to people and make their day (is another),” said Olivia Schneider.

She and her sister have been getting out of their comfort zone to rally votes for their brother: Madeline’s been sending messages to her entire company, and both sisters have been tweeting at just about anybody who will listen.

Their brother has a compelling case: He’s worked his way up to the major leagues after years of play in the Blue Jays minor league system. There were 848 players picked before him in his 2017 draft year. The 28th round, where he was selected, doesn’t even exist anymore.

Despite the challenges, he’s become a fan favourite, according to Johnny Giunta, a Blue Jays podcaster and die-hard fan.

“People relate to him like he's gritty, steel toe boots, hard hat, doesn't wear a batting gloves when he's hitting,” he said. “He's just a common man that happens to be good at baseball.”

Schneider’s newfound success has been bittersweet for his family. In 2020, his only brother Steven died after struggling with addiction.

His sisters say they still don’t know the full story of what happened.

“It’s been hard to grieve while also trying to celebrate our little brother doing such amazing things,” said Olivia Schneider. “Such a big part of his life, and his childhood, isn’t here.”

But, she says, it's also been a welcome reprieve from mourning the loss of a sibling and a grandfather late last year. Olivia Schneider said their father now has a reason to lose himself in a baseball game.

“I think it’ll make our dad really happy,” she said, should Davis get selected to play with the all-stars.

Giunta believes he’s got a good shot — even as other bonafide superstars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also compete for all-star spots.

“His jerseys at the Rogers Centre, the (new) City Connect jerseys, sold out on the first day,” he said. “If he gets a lot of votes, as many as I think he does, I think he will make the all-star team.”

Olivia Schneider said her little brother was a talented athlete from the very beginning.

“He would throw up like a little plastic whiffle ball and hit it with a mini bat,” she said. “He was doing that when he was really young and throwing a football in a perfect spiral.”

“It seemed like a faraway dream but I never doubted that he would get there.”