Bo Bichette Has Been Arguably MLB's Best Hitter Recently, Buoying Blue Jays Success
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The Toronto Blue Jays knew if they wanted to remain in the playoff race, they would need their star players, such as shortstop Bo Bichette, to play at a high level and keep things humming offensively.
There was a lot of talk about the run differential which the Blue Jays owned and that a regression to the mean was coming soon. Their actual record was better than the numbers would suggest and many people waited for the other shoe to drop.
To this point, that has not occurred, with Toronto entering play on Aug. 12 with a 69-50 record. That is the best mark in the American League, putting them 4.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the AL East.
One of the reasons the team has stayed hot over the last few weeks and remained atop the division has been the performance of Bichette, who has successfully put a rough 2024 campaign behind him.
There was pressure on him entering his final year of team control before hitting free agency.
Would he be able to replicate the kind of success he found from 2021-2023 as one of the more consistent hitters in baseball or was he derailed by the injuries and ineffectiveness last year?
Bo Bichette has been on fire for the Blue Jays
The latter has been accomplished, with Bichette leading the MLB with 494 at-bats and 147 hits through Aug. 11. He owns a .298/.338/.470 slash line with 16 home runs, 35 doubles, one triple and 78 RBI.
The power output is especially impressive when taking into consideration that he didn’t hit his first long ball until May 3.
For the last month or so, he has been arguably the best hitter in baseball, putting up some impressive numbers.
“Bichette’s numbers this season align neatly with the career track record he compiled before last year’s unpleasantness, and he’s been especially hot (as Toronto has) since just before the All-Star break. Since July 7, only Nick Kurtz has compiled more wins above replacement (according to FanGraphs) than Bichette,” wrote Tim Britton of The Athletic (subscription required).
Since July 7, the Blue Jays have gone 17-12 in games Bichette has appeared in. His production has been off the charts with a .379/.421/.597 slash line in 133 plate appearances with four home runs, 15 doubles and 27 RBI.
To put into context just how hot the two-time All-Star has been, the 2.6 total bases per game over that stretch is more than AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has this season at 2.5.
That is exactly what Toronto needed to cement their place in the playoff race, with Bichette increasing his free agency value every time he takes the field.
