Dave Litman
The Toronto Blue Jays are seemingly pulling out all the stops in an effort to somehow shoehorn All-Star Bo Bichette back onto the roster & into the lineup in time for the World Series. Here’s what we know about the Bichette situation at this point:
Known:
- Bichette hasn’t played in a major league game in over a month and a half.
- He has said this week that he’s ready to go for the World Series.
- 3-time Gold Glove winner Andres Gimenez has played excellent shortstop in Bichette’s absence throughout the postseason, and won’t be bumped for a guy who’s been out for six weeks with a sprained knee.
- George Springer is (ideally) the Blue Jays’ DH. He is also battling a bum knee after taking a two-seam fastball directly off his kneecap (“It sounded like it hit a bat,” said Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez at the time). Sticking him back in the outfield could be disastrous.
Unknown:
- How on earth will the Toronto Blue Jays use Bo Bichette?
If forcing Gimenez off shortstop isn’t an option, and forcing Springer to play regularly in the outfield so Bichette can be the DH isn’t really an option, what to do?
In a potentially stunning development, the Jays have begun working out Bichette at second base, taking ground balls. We should note at this point that he has never played second at the major league level, and has only 30 games’ worth of experience at the minor league level, most of them at the Rookie League and A-Ball level in 2016 and 2017.
Bo Bichette works out at second base in bid to return to Blue Jays’ lineup
Does his work at 2B this week mean that Bichette will be manning second when the World Series opens? It seems a bit unlikely, and Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith suggests an alternate explanation.
“It’s possible the Blue Jays are merely exploring their options and Bichette will be the one who needs DH at-bats. In the scenario that Bichette is primarily a pinch hitter or DH in the World Series, the second base option may be more of a late-game contingency than a plan-A.”
Plugged-in Blue Jays analyst Richard Griffin echoes those thoughts.
“One of several options this suggests is Bichette will be on Blue Jays WS roster as a bench player available to pinch-hit and possibly remain in the game at 2B with either Gimenez or (Ernie) Clement at SS. If (Isiah Kiner-Falefa) starts the game at 2B, then Bo could PH late and stay in.”
Bichette, despite missing the last three weeks of the regular season, finished tied for second in all of baseball in hits this season with 181, in batting average, at .311, and doubles, with 44. He added 18 homers, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS.
It seems unfathomable to leave an All-Star like Bichette out of the regular lineup for the World Series. But let’s keep in mind that the Jays used their impressive depth to get through the entire playoffs to this point without him, and it brings up the age-old debate, ‘Do you mess with a good thing?’ AKA, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
For now, Bichette says he is no longer ‘broke’, and he’s fixin’ to get into the lineup starting Friday night.
Big decisions ahead for the Toronto Blue Jays.
