Blue Jays Manager John Schneider Blasts Ohtani Rule After Five Intentional Walks

World Series Standoff: Schneider Protests MLB Rule with Record Intentional Walks

During a pivotal Game 3 of the 2025 World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Blue Jays manager John Schneider executed a dramatic and highly controversial strategic maneuver, intentionally walking Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani five times. The unprecedented series of walks was not merely a tactical decision but a pointed protest against a specific Major League Baseball (MLB) rule that Schneider argues unfairly benefits elite hitters.

The incident occurred on Monday, where Ohtani was issued four official intentional walks, plus one additional walk that resulted from a pitching change—all designed to avoid giving the reigning MVP a chance to swing. Schneider’s actions immediately ignited a league-wide debate over the current rules governing intentional walks and the strategic calculus employed against generational talents.

The Rule Under Scrutiny: The No-Pitch Intentional Walk

Schneider’s frustration centers on the no-pitch intentional walk rule, which was formally adopted by MLB prior to the 2017 season. Before this change, a pitcher was required to throw four pitches, often wide of the plate, to issue an intentional walk. The new rule allows the manager or catcher to signal the intention to the umpire, and the batter is immediately awarded first base.

Why the Rule Was Implemented

The primary motivation for the change was pace of play. MLB sought to eliminate the minute or more of dead time required to throw four non-competitive pitches, thereby streamlining the game and reducing overall duration. While successful in speeding up the process, critics like Schneider argue it removes a crucial element of strategy and potential risk.

The Strategic Cost of the Old Rule

Under the old system, even an intentional walk carried inherent risks:

• Wild Pitches: A pitcher could accidentally throw a wild pitch, allowing a runner to advance or score.
• Injury Risk: The repetitive, awkward motion of throwing four non-competitive pitches increased the risk of injury.
• Mental Break: The four pitches provided a brief, often unwelcome, mental break for the pitcher, potentially disrupting their rhythm.

Schneider’s Critique: The Ohtani Advantage

For managers facing a hitter of Ohtani’s caliber—a player who consistently ranks among the league leaders in home runs and on-base percentage—the decision to intentionally walk him is often painful but necessary, especially with other threats like Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts potentially batting behind him in the Dodgers lineup.

Schneider’s argument is that the no-pitch rule makes the strategic decision too easy and too efficient for the defense, removing the only remaining leverage the offense had during an intentional walk: the potential for error.

“I really don’t like pitching to Shohei Ohtani, but the rule makes it too clean,” Schneider stated, implicitly criticizing the lack of risk involved. “When you face a player who can change the game with one swing, the defense should at least have to execute the walk. Taking away the four pitches removes the last vestige of pressure.”

By walking Ohtani five times in a high-stakes World Series game, Schneider was demonstrating the strategic calculus the rule encourages: when the risk of pitching to Ohtani is near-catastrophic, and the risk of walking him is zero (under the current rule), the choice becomes obvious, leading to less competitive baseball.

Historical Context and Implications

While five intentional walks in a single game is highly unusual, the strategic use of the intentional pass has always been a controversial part of baseball. The most famous precedent involves Barry Bonds, who was intentionally walked 120 times in 2004, often multiple times per game. However, even during the Bonds era, the pitcher was required to throw the four pitches.

Impact on Game Flow and Strategy

1. Reduced Drama: The immediate signal for a walk eliminates the tension and strategy involved in the four-pitch sequence, which could sometimes lead to unexpected plays.
2. Efficiency over Entertainment: The rule prioritizes game speed over the potential drama of the intentional walk process.
3. Amplified Talent Gap: As Schneider suggests, the rule disproportionately benefits teams with one or two truly elite, unpitchable hitters, as the defense can bypass them instantly without consequence, setting up matchups against less dangerous hitters.

Key Takeaways

Schneider’s actions in the World Series highlight a significant tension between MLB’s desire for efficiency and the strategic integrity of the game:

• The Protest: Blue Jays manager John Schneider intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani five times in World Series Game 3 to protest the no-pitch intentional walk rule.
• The Rule: Since 2017, MLB allows intentional walks to be signaled without requiring the pitcher to throw four pitches, a change aimed at improving pace of play.
• The Critique: Schneider argues the rule removes all risk for the defense, making it too easy to bypass generational talents like Ohtani and reducing the competitive nature of the game.
• The Context: The high-stakes nature of the World Series amplified the controversy, forcing a spotlight onto a rule often overlooked during the regular season.

Conclusion: A Call for Reevaluation

John Schneider’s dramatic protest serves as a clear signal that not all managers are fully on board with the pace-of-play initiatives, particularly when those initiatives remove strategic risk. While the no-pitch intentional walk rule saves time, the World Series incident demonstrates that it can lead to non-competitive plate appearances for the game’s biggest stars. As MLB continues to refine its rules, the balance between efficiency and maintaining strategic depth will remain a central point of debate, especially when facing players who are, quite literally, too good to pitch to.