11:37 a.m.: The Blue Jays announced the move via press release. Montoyo has been “relieved of his managerial duties” (i.e., fired) in favor of bench coach John Schneider, who will fill the position on an interim basis until the end of the 2022 season. Triple-A manager Casey Candaele joins the major league staff league and as a temporary bench coach.
11:15 a.m.: The Blue Jays have fired manager Charlie Montoyo, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports ( via Twitter ). The decision comes just three months after Montoyo signed a one-year extension that runs through the end of the 2023 season.
It’s rare to see a team four games over .500 and in possession of a Wild Card spot unseat its captain, but Montoyo’s Jays are in the midst of a terrible stretch that has seen them lose nine of their last 11 games. That included a win at the hands of a red-hot Mariners club that used a four-game winning streak over Toronto to move back to within a half game of the wild-card spot the recently floundering Blue Jays are clinging to. ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that “questions at the club about leadership” also contributed to Montoyo’s firing (Twitter link).
It was an unexpectedly mediocre season for the Blue Jays as a whole. While their lineup is well above average overall—Toronto’s hitters are hitting .259/.321/.435, good for a fifth-ranked 111 wRC+—that masks a dismal midseason stretch where the Jays were one of the teams with the lowest league score in a few weeks. Even with those solid stats, Toronto is only 11th in total runs scored (401), and their offense isn’t the formidable unit most expected.
Each of Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernandez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a better than average hitter, but shy of his recent production levels (Bichette in particular). Offseason acquisition Matt Chapman has been better than his last few seasons with Oakland, but he still hasn’t returned to the form he showed before 2020 hip surgery.
There were similar unexpected personnel issues, chief among them being the unexpected decline of Jose Berrios. The Twins’ longtime top starter and valuable 2021 deadline hitter for the Jays signed a seven-year contract extension in the offseason and immediately followed up with his worst performance of his rookie season.
Berrios was the picture of consistency for the Twins from 2017-21 and has been his typically strong self in the stretch with Toronto since the trade last July. However, he stumbled into the 2022 season with a 5.38 ERA and a career-low 20.7% strikeout rate in 95 1/3 frames. His rotation teammate, offseason free agent signing Yusei Kikuchi, had similar problems in the first season of a three-year deal. Hyun Jin Ryu was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery. Injuries kept Nate Pearson from taking the mound.
Of course, those shortcomings certainly don’t fall squarely on Montoyo’s shoulders, but he will be the one bearing the blame for the struggles of these expected contributors and the team’s recent spate of often close losses. He becomes the third manager fired this season alone, as both Joe Girardi (Phillies) and Joe Maddon (Angels) were fired earlier in the year.
At least in terms of win-loss record, Montoyo will go down as one of the most successful managers fired in recent memory. Despite taking over in the late stages of a rebuild in 2019, he guided the Jays to an even 236-236 record in his three-plus seasons on the job. Prior to his time with the Jays, the bilingual Montoyo was one of the most successful minor league managers in Rays franchise history and also spent four seasons as a bench coach in Tampa Bay. Given that history and accomplishments, it stands to reason that he could find himself in the running for some coaching and/or managerial pursuits this offseason — if he’s willing to go straight back into the bullpen, of course.
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