TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo on Wednesday and promoted bench coach John Schneider to interim manager for the remainder of the season.
Triple-A manager Casey Candaele was named interim bench coach.
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The 13th manager in Blue Jays history and the first from Puerto Rico, Montoyo went 236-236 in parts of four seasons. The Blue Jays beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday to snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 46-42, which would put them in a playoffs as a wild-card team if the season ended Wednesday despite being in fourth place in the AL East.
The Blue Jays are 3-9 in July. They went 1-6 on a trip against the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners.
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The Jays’ skid started July 2, when they were swept in a doubleheader against the Tampa Bay Rays. Montoyo and first-base coach Mark Budzinksi left the dugout during Game 2 after learning of the death of Budzinski’s teenage daughter, Julia.
Several members of the Blue Jays organization flew together to Virginia on Monday’s off day to attend Julia Budzinski’s funeral.
Montoyo, 57, replaced John Gibbons as Blue Jays manager after the 2018 season. Montoyo’s contract was extended through 2023 on April 1.
Montoyo oversaw a tumultuous period in Blue Jays history, with the team playing home games in three cities last season, including two minor-league parks, because of border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Jays also played their 2020 home schedule at their Triple-A stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.
Montoyo led the Jays to a 32-28 record and a wild-card spot in the expanded playoffs after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, but the Blue Jays were swept by the eventual AL champion Rays in the opening round. The Jays went 91-71 in 2021 and missed tying for the AL wild card by one game.
Before joining the Blue Jays, Montoyo spent six seasons on the Rays’ major-league coaching staff, including his final three as bench coach. He spent 18 seasons as a minor-league manager in the Rays system and also worked with the Puerto Rican team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
