Blue Jays Star Immediately Silencing Doubters With Impressive Comeback Season
In this story:
The Toronto Blue Jays have been the talk of the baseball world after agreeing to a historic 14-year, $500 million extension with their star corner infielder, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
That was a huge move, ensuring that he will be with the franchise long-term. It will help in the recruiting of future free agents, knowing that a star is already in place to anchor the lineup and build around.
His commitment also shows confidence in a franchise that has previously attempted to bring in talent but failed. Guerrero would have secured a $500 million contract from anyone in free agency, but he opted to commit to the Blue Jays before even testing the market.
Toronto is hoping that they can have similar luck with another homegrown All-Star: shortstop Bo Bichette.
Extending him is their next order of business, according to general manager Ross Atkins.
Previously, Bichette has expressed some level of desire to remain with the Blue Jays alongside Guerrero. It will be interesting to see how those negotiations pan out, as the two sides have already worked out a multi-year pact once.
The two-time All-Star is playing out the final season of a three-year, $33 million contract that bought out his arbitration years.
The middle campaign of that contract, 2024, was a disaster for Bichette, who was on the injured list three separate occasions.
That led to the least productive season of his career with a .225/.277/.322 slash line. A player who had previously never had an OPS under .802 or OPS+ under 121 put up numbers of .598 and 70 that year.
But, he is quickly reminding people of the talent he possesses early in 2025.
Through 14 games and 66 plate appearances, he has a .288/.348/.356 slash line with four doubles. The power stroke isn’t quite back yet, with zero home runs, but the contact skills are on full display.
He has already recorded five mulit-hit games in 2025, including three occasions of 3+ hits in a single outing; that is as many as he had in 81 games last year.
As shared by Jared Greenspan of MLB.com, his xBA of .353 is in the 97th percentile of the sport. That means his numbers are likely going to continue improving as luck starts turning in his favor a little more often.
That is wonderful news for Toronto, a team that has to be energized by the Guerrero extension. That, combined with Bichette getting back on track, will have them right in the mix in the American League East race all year.
