Inside The Blue Jays

Bo Bichette Still Has One Major Hurdle To Overcome Before Rejoining Blue Jays

Bo Bichette has some more work to do before he can get back on the field.
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The Toronto Blue Jays have been without their star shortstop, Bo Bichette, for over two weeks at this point.

He is dealing with a knee sprain that was caused when he attempted a slide into home plate against the New York Yankees on Sept. 6. The Blue Jays haven’t missed much of a beat, going 8-6 without the slugging middle infielder in the lineup. However, their performance has been streaky.

Toronto ripped off a six-game winning streak without Bichette in the mix. But, they immediately followed it up with a four-game losing streak that was snapped in their last game against the Kansas City Royals on Sept. 21.

Set to begin a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox before finishing the regular season with three games against the Tampa Bay Rays, time is ticking on Bichette getting back into the lineup. His injury was not expected to be season-ending, and the Blue Jays would love for him to get into some live action ahead of the postseason.

Bo Bichette Has Yet To Start Running in His Rehab

Bo Bichett
Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

If that is going to occur, there is one hurdle that Bichette still needs to overcome. He has been progressing nicely with his hitting, but he has yet to start running. That is the most important aspect of his timeline, as shared by Keegan Matheson of MLB.com on X.

Things are certainly progressing in the right direction for him. Today is the second consecutive day that Bichette is doing work in the cage. Right now, it is all off tosses and the tee; he has yet to hit off a machine.

Despite still having some work to do, manager John Schneider provided a positive update. As shared by Mitch Bannon of The Athletic on X, Monday was one of the best days throughout his rehab.

It will be interesting to see how Schneider deploys him once he is healthy enough to return. Will Toronto play him if he is not capable of playing the field? 

As one of the worst defensive players in the MLB, there is an argument that could be made that the Blue Jays would be better off using him as the designated hitter moving forward, especially if his already shaky defense is compromised by a balky knee.

Getting his bat back into the lineup should be the No. 1 priority for the team. In the 14 games they have played without him, they have scored four or fewer runs eight times. With injuries and ineffectiveness ravaging the pitching staff, getting as much firepower into the lineup down the stretch would be ideal.

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