3:15pm: There’s no immediate timetable for Bichette’s return. Manager John Schneider tells the Jays beat that Bichette, who first felt discomfort in his shin and knee on Sunday, will rest for the remainder of the week and be reevaluated early next week (link via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet).
2:07pm: The Blue Jays announced Tuesday that shortstop Bo Bichette is headed to the 10-day injured list due to a left knee sprain. The IL placement is retroactive to Sept. 7. Bichette will be eligible to return in eight days, though the team hasn’t provided any sort of timetable just yet. Outfielder Joey Loperfido has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take Bichette’s spot on the active roster.
Losing the 27-year-old Bichette for any period of time is a potential gut-punch to the first-place Jays, who hold a two-game lead over the Yankees and a three-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East. Bichette has not only bounced back from last year’s injury-ruined season — he’s enjoyed one of the most productive seasons of his career. In 628 plate appearances, he’s slashing .311/.357/.483 with 18 home runs, 44 doubles, a triple, a 6.4% walk rate (well shy of league average but one of his best marks) and a tiny 14.6% strikeout rate.
Bichette has been particularly hot over the past two months, posting a ridiculous .380/.431/.580 batting line (182 wRC+) with six homers, 23 doubles, an 8% walk rate and an 11.6% strikeout rate in a span of 225 plate appearances.
With Bichette sidelined for at least the next eight games, Ernie Clement and/or Isiah Kiner-Falefa will likely step up and fill the void at shortstop. Clement gets the first shortstop nod tonight, and while he can’t match Bichette’s offense, he’s a superior defender at the position. That’ll free up Addison Barger to play third base more, while Loperfido joins Kiner-Falefa, Nathan Lukes, Daulton Varsho, George Springer, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw among the team’s outfield options. It’ll be Loperfido, Varsho and Lukes tonight (left field to right field, respectively). Springer is hitting leadof in the designated hitter slot.
Beyond the immediate roster and postseason ramifications, the injury is particularly ill-timed for Bichette from a personal standpoint. He’d surely say this talk takes a backseat to team needs and postseason hopes, but Bichette is a free agent at season’s end. His bounceback effort has positioned him as one of the top free agents on the upcoming market. If he’s able to return following a relatively brief stay, this isn’t likely to have any real impact on his earning power at all. But if Bichette requires a notable absence or struggles in his return while dealing with lingering effects from the injury, his health will be a far more prominent question when looking at his free agent market this winter.
That puts a serious dent into any hope to hold the division. Their best run producer is now on the shelf.
Even is he’s out for the season, it won’t dent his free agency. There’s no competition. Hopefully he will be back soon.
The Jays still have what is effectively a three game lead with only 19 left to play.
Uhhh ohhh
And there goes the division… unless everybody not named gausman start to pitch
Bichette is a great hitter but a fragile player playing the wrong position.
The jays are done without him in the lineup.
The Jays brass have a history of not knowing or telling the whole injury story on certain players. [Anthony Santander, Aaron Sanchez, or, or, or.}
Bichette is not worth $300 mill. Anyone who gives him that contract needs their head examined.
He is last defensively in MLB in some categories of defensive metrics. He belongs at 2nd base. His violent swing and playing the wrong position on a lousy frame contribute to his fragility. it is only going to get much much worse as he ages.
As said when he was in AA. “Bichette has a good bat but will be oft injured, He has a weak core and wrists. He belongs at 2nd base and will be seen as a below average shortstop when his playing time is over.”
No team will sign him with the intent of leaving him at SS long term. Not even the Jays.
Yeah.. that seems about right… *facepalm
Lol weak wrists? As he sprays the ball all over the field and never hurts his wrist.
You need to get your #scoutseyes checked bud
He’s averaged 590 plate appearances per season since ’21 and that figure includes the big chunk he was out last season. The injuries were caused by a non-core related calf-strain and fractured finger by a ball miscue. He’s correct on his defense but I think Bichette must have stolen @jimmertee’s lunchroom chocolate milk at some point.
YBC what’s the chances that Cashman admits Volpe ain’t cutting it and bites the bullet on Bichette?
I don’t think Cash will like Bichette’s defense and they still have Jazz and McMahon next season. Caballero is a leadoff option there next season if Volpe gets traded.
They already realize it. They externally always support their players u til they pull the plug. I bet he’s benched during the postseason for Cabellero. They’ll either plan on Lombard taking over at some point in 2026, or they could target Bichette for next year with the understanding he’s open to moving off the position in 2027. Money talks. Jays have a lot of that too.
LordD. I think Lombard is still a ways off beyond next year. I still think he’ll be good but he seems to progress slowly. Let’s hope Cabellero can keep his temper in check so he can stay on the field.
Pretty obvious Cashman doesn’t care about defense.
@brucenewton Re-signing an arb-eligible Grisham was his first offseason move of winter ’24 and it wasn’t for his offense.
that’s Jimmertree his takes are completely out to lunch, fancies himself a scout, when asked to prove his silly posts. As soon as you disagree with him he blocks you, it’s a long list of folks myself included.
Bo is a free agent after this season. Would be devastating if he left. 11 years, $450 million would be a good first offer from the team, especially considering the idiotic contract the were forced to give to “vlad” out of fear that he would leave since players don’t like being in Toronto and since it’s so difficult to get players to sign there.
Do it now.
No suite included this time? You’re slipping!
Meant 11 years 400 million for the first offer, not 450. And yes, if he wants free box suites for life to be included, free private air travel separate from the rest of the team to be included, separate hotel suites with private security barricaded from the rest of the team to be included, etc. Just give him the stupid things. Don’t make the same misstep the Yankees made with Soto.
Do it now.
Anyone else extremely thankful for the IKF reunion?
The article mentions Clement is next up at SS, but I think IKF is the better all around option. That trade now looms larger than most of us expected at the time.
You’ll see Clement at SS and Barger at third more going forward, in fact that’s the lineup today. Loperfido who was called up for Bo is in the outfield.
Maybe time to revisit length of the season. Same number of games but make it longer to fit in more off days. Less games, same number of days between opening day and final day of season. NHL once gave teams a week off to rest and recover. Maybe MLB can put in a break like that as well. How players work out could be something to look into. Maybe they are working out to much and also doing things off field that contribute to injury?
Extend the All-Star break by a day or two and stop incentivizing ASG and HR Derby appearances for players. It’s a mid-season fans exhibition. Mix in Futures Game and available int’l players for a small tournament. I don’t think other pro leagues are good comps as they play way less games. MLB won’t do it because ASG events have good TV ratings and they won’t rock that boat.
Bichette feels like the next Correa- struggles to land The Big Contract, settles for short term higher AAV with opt outs, does well enough to decide to opt out and go for a big more, gets it from someone and then immediately becomes irrelevant/deeply mediocre as he’s paid cornerstone money..
3 years/$120M w/ opt outs
10 years/$375M from a sucker based on his contract year do-over where he deceptively adds like 2.2 to his WAR value.
Becomes irrelevant by year 5, traded in year 6 or during that off season etc and burns the money off on 1-3 more clubs.
Nice bounceback offensive season in a contract year. You’d think FO’s would not fall into the trap now of paying great money for a good player.
7yrs/200mil seems a stretch from business standpoint (age 28 to 34 seasons). Like a flip-flop of Swanson contract with little inflation who is strong D and okay streaky bat….Bichette good hitter and not so good D who moves to lesser position.
How does he feel like that other than your opinion. The free agent class next year is weak in hitters especially young ones, him and Tucker are the only impact young guys.
The player wouldn’t. Pretend also you are a POBO who can get fired for not wisely using their budget. It’s not a binary pro player/pro club. A comp was given in Swanson. Very good player in some respects but not one that can carry a club. If you think Bichette’s worth way more, here to tell you that’s the sort of move that gets an exec fired when the boss says no funds to go after other (better) shiny objects later.
Oh boy, the three-way race between the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Red Sox is about to get even more interesting.
Im confident in our depth with IKF, Clement and Joey Loperfido. (Joey was batting well before demotion)