The Blue Jays announced a series of roster moves today, with shortstop Bo Bichette placed on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain, retroactive to June 15. Infielder Orelvis Martinez was recalled and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. They also made a bullpen swap, with left-hander Brandon Eisert optioned as right-hander Ryan Burr was recalled.
Bichette hasn’t played since Friday due to this calf issue. The Jays didn’t place him on the IL right away as they monitored the development of the injury, but it seems it didn’t heal up as hoped and the determination was made to place him on the shelf. Since the move is backdated, he could be back in as soon as a week’s time if he feels better. Manager John Schneider says that is indeed the hope, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet on X.
It’s been a rough season overall for Bichette, who is hitting just .237/.286/.342 on the year, a far cry from the .299/.340/.487 line he carried into the season. It’s possible that some of that is batted ball luck, as he had a .349 batting average on balls in play coming into the year but has a .271 BABIP in 2024, but he also has just four home runs this season and a 4.7% barrel rate that’s roughly half of the 9.2% rate he has for his entire career.
He may have been turning things around after a really rough start, as he slashed .280/.321/.410 in the month of May for a 108 wRC+. His numbers in June ticked down again, though it’s possible that the calf had started nagging at him before it actually took him out of the lineup. Regardless, he’ll have at least a week to rest up and take a breather.
His injury will allow Martinez to come up to the majors for the first time. Now 22 years old, he was a fairly high-profile international signing out of the Dominican Republic, securing a bonus of $3.51MM from the Jays in 2018. As he has climbed the minor league ladder, he has made good on that strong bonus by becoming a top 100 prospect, with his home run power standing out as his most exciting tool.
In 2021, he got into 98 games between Single-A and High-A, hitting 28 home runs in that time. He was promoted to Double-A in 2022 and there was a bit of concern with his early results there. He struck out at a 28.5% clip and slashed just .203/.286/.446 that year. But the Jays still didn’t want him exposed in that year’s Rule 5 draft and added him to their 40-man roster.
He returned to Double-A to start 2023 and the results were much better. He cut his strikeout rate to 20.5% and also drew walks at a huge 14% clip. He hit 17 home runs in 70 games and slashed .226/.339/.485 for a wRC+ of 122. He was promoted to Triple-A in July of last year and now has 118 games for the Bisons under his belt with 27 home runs. His 25.4% strikeout rate in that time is a bit high but he’s also drawn walks at a 9.7% clip.
There is some slight platoon concern, as Martinez has hit .321/.406/.661 against lefties this year but just .240/.324/.480 the rest of the time, but he’s also still quite young and has shown an ability to adjust when challenged.
Defense is also a bit of question mark for Martinez. He spent a lot of time at shortstop in previous seasons but hasn’t played there in 2024, mostly lining up at second base with a bit of time at third base also mixed in. Despite the flaws, Martinez has enough upside at the plate that he’s considered one of the top prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him #54 overall, FanGraphs #71 and MLB Pipeline #68. Coming into the season, Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #57 spot, though Kiley McDaniel of ESPN didn’t have Martinez on his list.
Since Martinez hasn’t been playing shortstop this year, he won’t be a direct replacement for Bichette. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has been holding down that spot with Bichette out of action in recent days and will likely continue in that role, with Ernie Clement and Addison Barger capable of chipping in as well.
Martinez will be in the mix for some playing time at second and third alongside Clement, Barger, Davis Schneider and Spencer Horwitz. The club has also experimented with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. getting some time at third and he could be in the mix there as well.
The Jays have been struggling to find offense this year and recently cut both Daniel Vogelbach and Cavan Biggio from the roster, calling up Horwitz and Barger in an attempt to find some extra runs. The recall of Martinez was more motivated by Bichette’s injury but could perhaps help in that regard as well, though it’s possible it’s just a brief stay on the roster if Bichette is indeed back quickly.
The Jays are currently sporting a record of 35-37, not completely buried in the standings but they’re five games back of a playoff spot at the moment. They are reportedly going to wait until after the All-Star break to decide on how they approach the July 30 deadline.
If the recent roster shakeup can help them climb in the standings, then perhaps they can avoid a summer selloff. If not, the rumors on players nearing free agency will grow louder. That’s particularly true of Guerrero and Bichette, who are each set to hit the open market after 2025. Though with Bichette struggling this year and now injured as well, the Jays may have concerns about selling low, compounded by the public relations hit of selling a player who has been such a key part of the franchise for years. That will make the coming weeks very interesting for the club and Bichette, with the trade deadline on July 30, six weeks from today.
This “More to Come” guy is quite popular.
He gets around even more than that “Cash Considerations” guy.
What’s wrong with Bo Bich
Blue Jays were such an exciting young team, man they plateaued with a whimper. Not sure how anyone in that FO keeps their jobs with what they left on the table the last 3 years. And why did they have to f*** with the outfield dimensions?!?
Ah. First time with a Mark Shapiro team I see.
Let the time of Orelvis commence. Please keep the K’s to a minimum. Rooting for ya!
Couple yrs ago bichette looked like a superstar. Things change fast in mlb
Orelvis is here. 30 hrs, 200k’s ?
“Couple yrs ago bichette”…A couple years ago so did Vlade Jr. Personally, I feel Bichette will rebound to his former self at some point so I’d hold onto him(at least until his value climbs). DH-in-waiting, Guerrero is having the better season, so I’d consider trading him for the best players or prospects you can get. Toronto is primed and ready for some sort of re-set.
@mlb fan
The Jays have been looking to upgrade SS since Lindor was with Cleveland up until Seager was a FA. Bo will get moved before Vlad.
“Bo will get moved before Vlad”…There’s several reasons the Blue Jays should keep Bo over Vlad. The most obvious one is that Bo’s value is down due to a poor season by him. Another is that Vlade Jr. is essentially a very expensive DH with limited abilities beyond hitting. A DH/1B is usually far easier to replace than a long time starting SS.
@mlb fan
Valid points about positional viability but I still think my point is still valid. The Jays have been looking to upgrade at SS for a number of years. Given that Bo was just put on the IL it seems justifiable to speculate that his underwhelming performance was partially due to injury. Once back and healthy, his value should rise accordingly. Vlad’s future with the team will be determined by Horwitz contribution for the remainder of the season. If he performs as he is now, I think there is a very real possibility of Vlad being dealt in the offseason. I think we both know that Horwitz is only a 1B/DH guy.
Bichette, sweaty and bloody in the corner of the dugout after the calf strain, in his most accentuated Italian-American replication, tells the trainer, “cut me Mick”
Nah, he might get blood in his hair
True, maybe just his calf is bloody?
Bichette has an OPS a whopping 15 points higher than the guy they just DFAd Biggio.
Would like to see the lineup something like this:
1B Horowitz
2B Martinez
SS Clement
3B Barger
LF Schneider
CF Varsho
RF Springer
DH Guerrero
Not the batting order of course, just what the field would look like. An all Buffalo Boys IF.
Martinez should DH Vlad should play 1B
Can’t wait to stream pitchers against that Quad-A lineup. They might as well save jet fuel and move back to Buffalo so they can rotate guys up and down same day.
That aaaa lineup is actually good (other than Springer) Horowitz is looking good and Barger too. It’s Turner, Springer, Bo and the dead weight they’ve cut recently. In the Pen if they just get rid of Mayza it would rebound nicely
I believe Bo has been torn all year emotionally between his bro Dante Jr and Dad. Lots of allegations of parental child abuse has come out.
I stress allegations.
Still might be weighing heavy on Bo.
Always been a bit of a mystery why Sr disappeared entirely from appearing with Jays , helping out etc
Yeah didn’t know about any of that thanks for sharing I looked it up. Sounds serious and something that is most likely being investigated.
I think many people (me too, at times) underestimate the impact personal issues have on players’ performance. It’s often easy to forget they’re just regular people outside of baseball (with a lot of money, of course).
Sad to hear about his family though.
@Yankee Clipper
But… but… in MLB the Show, they don’t have emotions/personal issues impacting the players. What’s the difference?
/s
The thing is, the allegations are several years old. I can find reference to them on a Jays message board from July 2022. This isn’t new.
bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/10432-Dante-Biche…
And the most recent resurfacing happened about a week ago.
It’s unlikely any of this has been affecting Bo all season long. He would have already known about it.
(not trying to downplay family trauma, it’s just not new)
I would like to hope that these accusations are false, or at least exaggerated. Claiming that Dante Sr. Used to physically beat him and fight with his coaches and the umpires is pretty serious (though not a single individual has corroborated any of his story). Claiming his mom became an “abuser” too because she kicked him out of the house (at age 24), all of this has to be tough on Bo because he is the only one in the actual spotlight
fight with his coaches and the umpires is pretty serious (though not a single individual has corroborated any of his story).
========================
I’d like to hear more. When he talks about fighting, was it a physical altercation(s), or simply yelling. You’d think that would be easy to come by. If he had enough confrontations, someone will come forward.
“On June 11, 2024, Bichette’s son Dante Jr., alleged that he had been abused by the elder Dante as a child while playing youth baseball.”
This is now public news. It has to be very difficult for Bo.
At this point, I guess the Jays can’t really sell high on anyone. They’re all pretty bad this year.
Conversely, they can buy low too. If they were going to try to keep
Vlad. Now might be a good time to make the offer.
What if Bo has played his last game as a blue jay
It feels very unlikely that they trade Bo now, between the down year and injury. If they do trade him, they would almost certainly need him to play healthy and well for at least a few weeks.
I wonder, do you turn things around using other things, or do the things move on their own?
When the clouds move we get Blue Skies
Bo was lackluster a few years ago also and turned it up later on in the season
Two things: Bo and also Martinez.
As I said while Bo was playing in AA, that when we look back on his entire baseball career, it will be seen that he will have played a below average shortstop and would be probably better at Second. I also said that injuries would be a problem due to shortstop position taking its toll and that his violent swing would take a toll on his core and wrists. Wait for it. He is the Jays best hitter at the moment even though he has had an off year so far.
I have been waiting for the Orelvis Martinez call up for a while. He has a chance at being a very good ballplayer, a star at the plate; but not a superstar.
Orelvis will be nothing until he can solve making contact. If you can’t hit above .260 in the minors for a season there is a red flag. He also has a hard time fielding the baseball.
Bo’s approach is an open book to opposing pitchers. Your “wrists” shtick was wrong then and wrong now. On top of that, you were one of the ones calling for John Schneider to replace Montoyo and that too was the wrong play.
Bo does provide below average SS play. A product of the Blue Jays not addressing the problem and relying on Bo’s work ethic. As hard as he works he’s more suited for 2B which is all the Jays can develop these days.
Orelvis Martinez if he can somewhat keep his strikeouts in check looks like a prototypical 4-6 hitter with his power. Excited to see him perform, and do hope able to find a defensive spot where he’s not too detrimental to the pitching staff.
Shame it took a Bo Bichette injury to get his shot but is good for the long term to see how each of these kids fare and hope to see a resurgent Bo return.
@Rugga
Martinez doesn’t have the arm for the left side of the IF and is at best sketchy at 2B. As far as I know he hasn’t taken any reps in the OF. His best defensive position is DH.
Yeah I do agree honestly. Just would hope able to find a spot where not relegated to being a 22 year old DH. One thing I disagree on though is the arm. It’s graded high his problem is apparently more they quick twitch reaction needed to get to a grounder.
@Rugga
There was a piece on him from Baseball America (might be another site it was a while ago) saying that he had a weak arm for 3B and SS.
I would love to see him stay up until Bo is off the IL then send back to Buffalo to learn/play LF. If he can be average in left he should have a job starting the ’25 season.
I commented on another site that the key to getting the kids playing time is to trade Turner. Everything falls into place then.
Ok. I haven’t seen that article. I was just going off the 60 grade on mlbs top prospect list. Definitely like to see a positional home for him also though
@Rugga
I’d like to see him on the field as well. My take would be left field.