Bo Bichette will not return before the start of the postseason, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters this evening (via Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet). However, Schneider said that a recent second evaluation on the shortstop’s sprained left knee was encouraging enough that he could resume baseball activities later in the week.
Bichette suffered the injury a week and a half ago when he collided with Yankees catcher Austin Wells in a play at home plate. Toronto announced the issue as a left knee sprain when they placed him on the injured list last week. Schneider specified last night that it’s a PCL sprain (via Mitch Bannon of The Athletic). Today’s second opinion was viewed as more of a routine follow-up than an indication the team feared a serious injury.
It’s decent news, all things considered, though the Jays have yet to firmly announce that he’ll be ready for the start of the playoffs. Jon Morosi of The MLB Network reported this afternoon that a postseason return remained a possibility. That will clearly be Bichette’s goal. He would return without having logged game reps for three weeks. It’s a suboptimal situation but one the Jays would be happy to live with if it meant getting one of their best hitters back in October.
Bichette’s regular season concludes with a .311/.357/.483 slash across 628 plate appearances. He still leads the majors in hits (181) and doubles (44). He’s 15 knocks up on Bobby Witt Jr., so it’s possible he’ll lead the American League in hits for the third time in his career despite the injury. Bichette also connected on 18 homers with a career-low 14.5% strikeout rate. He’s on track to cash in as he hits free agency going into his age-28 season.
It’s possible he has played his final regular season game in a Jays uniform, though he and the team will hope to finish this year with a long playoff run. It remains to be seen whether he’d be mobile enough to play shortstop next month. “In a perfect world, if he can come back and play short, great,” Schneider said last night (link via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com). “We’ll see how this goes. With how he’s moving, it seems to me that hitting will be a little bit in front of everything else. I think we’ll know more tomorrow or the next day, but if we can get his bat back, hell yeah, I’ll take that.”
Bichette’s injury has kicked Andrés Giménez from second base to shortstop. Ernie Clement is playing second regularly, leaving third base to Addison Barger. That’s a better defensive grouping than they had with Bichette up the middle, but Barger’s move to third base leaves Nathan Lukes as the everyday right fielder. Lukes has been a league average hitter overall but is batting .225 with a .238 on-base percentage in September.
If Bichette is able to hit but too injured to take the field, they’d be left to press George Springer into regular right field work. Springer has had a resurgent season at the plate but only started 48 games and logged 411 2/3 innings of outfield work. Toronto also hasn’t closed the door on a late-season comeback from Anthony Santander.
The switch-hitting Santander has been a non-factor in the first season of a five-year deal. He hasn’t played an MLB game since the end of May because of a left shoulder issue but started a rehab assignment at Triple-A Buffalo last week. He’s working as a designated hitter with the Bisons. Santander might be limited to a bench role if he gets back for the playoffs, especially if Bichette is questionable for defense. Even if Santander’s first season in Toronto has been a disaster, Schneider would surely welcome the opportunity to turn to a player who hit 44 home runs last year as a power bat off the bench.
Toronto has a magic number of four to clinch a playoff berth. That should happen by the end of this week. They hold a five-game cushion over the Yankees in the AL East. They’re three games ahead of the Tigers for the AL’s top seed and six games up on the AL West-leading Mariners. Locking down the division would almost certainly ensure they finish as a top two seed and secure a first-round bye. The Division Series begin on October 4.
unfortunate
truly sad, Santander and Bichette were healthy could be the team to beat, prolly make the ws.
Santander being out was a blessing in disguise for this team.
Honestly, I’m not all that upset about this. After seeing a real defensive star at SS for the first time in awhile (Giménez), I never want to see Bichette at that position again. Having Barger, Giménez, and Clement (with IKF as super sub) on defense improves this team.
As for Bichette’s injury, it was a classic dumb move from Bo. Just as he was playing selfish hero ball in the Wild Card vs. Seattle a few years ago, causing the collision in center field and the subsequent collapse, here he was again, trying to be a hero before the rain delay, attempting to score on a play he had absolutely no chance of making it on. The result this time? An unnecessary and dumb injury. We don’t need his low baseball IQ right now. Maybe we welcome him back as a DH at some point, but in my mind that’s Springer’s spot.
No big loss. Ewing theory in full effect, mark my words.
lol we’ll see when Gimenez is batting .150 in the postseason.
Batting average, lol. Bichette has a .638 OPS in the playoffs btw
6 games lol.
The idea that you think this team is better without bichette is insane
exactly… Anyone who thinks this team is better without Bichette is nuts.
Interesting perspective! I still think Jays are a better team with him on it. Hope he is really back by the postseason. Lol @ Ewing theory.
He would help as DH for sure. But he’s always been a liability at short. Like he’s really, really bad. -5.9 defensive rating on Fangraphs (easily worst among shortstops), 3rd percentile for Fielding Run Value on Statcast – third percentile! First percentile for range. He’s comically bad out there on defense and it has cost us many times.
I think Bichette would make a good (or at least league average defensively) second baseman next year. He’s just never quite had the arm for short, which leaves him rushing.
Yes Bichette is a bad defender but his bat more than makes up for that. This is why he’s 8th among shortstops with 3.8 fWAR this season. As much as I like IKF and Ernie Clement there’s a reason no one is talking about locking them up for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Neither of the players you mentioned are Bo’s replacement. Giménez is. Bo is a good hitter but an atrocious shortstop. He can contribute as a DH, but not if it means taking at bats or effectiveness away from Springer.
Yes but someone has to replace Gimenez at second unless there’s some new cloning technology I’m unaware of.
Also someone has to replace Barger in the outfield which means more at bats for Schneider and Straw against their weak side. Look at the outfield tonight against a righty: Lukes, Straw, and Schneider. That’s not ideal.
There’s no way that losing a 4 win player makes a team better.
I never said it did. What I said was, “No big loss.” That implies there still is a loss. But it’s minimal, because there is huge value in good defense at shortstop.
Yes there is huge value. Just like there’s huge value in a 133 wRC+ over Gimenez’s 69.But I guess that’s why it’s wise to factor in both offense and defense when judging a player. It’s part of why Bichette has put up almost four times Gimenez’s fWAR. Don’t get me wrong I loved me some Johnny Mac, but there’s a reason probably no one else remembers him.
The point is that he doesn’t have to be the SS. Think of how much better the team would be if his bat didn’t have to make up for his defence.
He’s the SS for this team because he’s the only middle infielder you can pencil in every day.
Clement, IKF, Gimenez are not full time players.
Gimenez is struggling at bat while also being protected from lefty starters and being pinch hit for in late innings against lefty relievers where possible.
If you have him 500 ABs at SS he would be no where close to the value bichette provides
He was trying to be a hero before the rain delay ?…. Or did he pick up his 3b coach sending him . Should he have refused to listen to the send home ?
I dont get why he stayed or why the trainers gave the ok for him to stay in the game, especially after the long rain delay. Now he’s out 2-6 weeks with PCL injury.
They thought it was just a bruise at the time. Once you figure out nothing’s broken or pulled, the default assumption tends to be that you can play through the pain without risk and that a bruise will be more of a problem the next day when it has time to swell.
Losing his bat is a big loss. Let’s stop pretending it’s not.
Bo Knows hip injuries.
Oh sorry, wrong Bo.
Bo Knows knee injuries. And back injuries, calf injuries, finger, forearm, neck. Bo doesn’t know hip injuries.
Get well soon.
The Jays haven’t missed a beat since his trip to the IL. That’s good depth.
Surprise. Bichette is hurt. He folds like a cheap suticase in the playoffs too. This BlueJays team definitely doesn’t want him at shortstop for the playoffs.
No BIG CONTRACT for you……
Santander went into FA at the right time. After this year he would be lucky to get a 1year make good contract.