The struggling Toronto Blue Jays have fired manager Charlie Montoyo after four seasons.
Bench coach John Schnieder has been named interim manager through the end of 2022 season.
The move comes with the Jays having lost eight of their past 10 games and soon after a four-game sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners. Toronto sits four games over .500 at 46-42 after Tuesday's 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Montoyo took over from John Gibbons as manager prior to the 2019 season. He joined the Tampa Bay Rays organization in 1997 – one year before they played their first game as an expansion team – and coached at various levels of the minor leagues before being elevated to the big leagues as a third base coach and bench coach working under manager Kevin Cash in 2015.
The 56-year-old led the rebuilding Blue Jays to a 67-95 record in 2019 but the team took a huge step forward in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, going 32-28 to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Jays followed that up with a 91-71 record a year ago – their fifth highest win total in franchise history – but missed the postseason by one game. Given the team’s progress, it was expected the team would reach its full potential this season.
Montoyo exits with an overall record of 235-236, the fifth most wins in team history behind Cito Gaston (894), John Gibbons (793), Bobby Cox (355 and Jimy Williams (281).