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Former Toronto Blue Jays All-Star calls out Schneider for pulling Bieber early

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Oct 8 2025, 4:15 pm
Former Toronto Blue Jays All-Star calls out Schneider for pulling Bieber early
Kevin Sousa/Imagn Images

It wasn’t just some of the Toronto Blue Jays fan base who took issue with Shane Bieber getting an early hook on Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays looked like they were well on their way to sweeping the New York Yankees in the ALDS, as they had a 6-1 lead over their divisional rival in the top of the third inning. Unfortunately, Bieber began to struggle immediately after.

After giving up an unearned run in the first, Bieber allowed two more Yankees to score in the third, which prompted John Schneider to yank him despite having thrown just 53 pitches. While some believed it was the right move given that the 30-year-old didn’t have his best stuff, others, including former Jays All Star Vernon Wells, didn’t agree with the decision whatsoever.

“You don’t take Shane out with 53 pitches with Game 4 being a bullpen game,” Wells wrote on X.

As Wells alluded to, falling in Game 3 means that the Blue Jays will be forced to do a bullpen game on Tuesday night, as they only included three starters on their ALDS roster: Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Bieber.

This morning, Wells opened up further on why he believed taking Bieber out so early was a mistake.

“Why go out and trade for him if you can’t trust that he can get himself out of trouble?” Wells wrote. “You go out and instill confidence then let Shane be Shane.”

The three-time All Star, however, did make it clear that he believes other factors led to the loss. He didn’t dive into those factors, though a number of egregious errors throughout the game are likely what he’s referring to.

Starting for the Jays on Wednesday will be Louis Varland, who was taken deep on Tuesday by Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. As for who comes after Varland, Schneider told reporters that everybody will be available.

“Everyone’s available tomorrow. Everyone’s available,” Schneider said.

Given Bieber’s early hook, the Jays went through a number of bullpen arms on Tuesday, with Varland, Mason Fluharty, Braydon Fisher, Brendon Little, Yariel Rodriguez, and Tommy Nance all appearing in the game.

Despite the extremely disappointing loss on Tuesday, the Blue Jays will have another chance to advance to the ALCS in Game 4. Should they fall, they would return to Toronto for a winner-takes-all in Game 5, which would take place on Friday evening.

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