Bo Bichette appears to be finding his swing again.
After missing seven weeks with a PCL strain in his left knee, nobody knew what to expect as Bichette rejoined the Toronto Blue Jays’ offence for the first time since early September. For everything he’s been worth to this franchise, the All-Star shortstop — a pending free agent this winter — deserved an opportunity to be a part of this improbable journey.
However, the 27-year-old is doing something that hasn’t been attempted since Kyle Schwarber in 2016 — jump into the World Series following an extended injury absence. And he’s done so without first heading out on a minor-league rehab assignment, which wasn’t possible after the triple-A season concluded on Sep. 21.
While it’s taken a few games, Bichette is already starting to look like himself at the plate, and his timing couldn’t be better amidst George Springer’s uncertain return from an oblique injury suffered in Monday’s marathon 18-inning Game 3.
By far, Game 4 at Dodger Stadium was Bichette’s best performance since returning from the injured list thus far. Sure, he only went 1-for-4 with a walk in Tuesday’s pivotal 6-2 victory over Los Angeles. But his encouraging signs ran deeper than simply the box score, as he produced his two fastest bat speeds since pre-injury on a pair of 72-m.p.h. swings.
The first of which came on a third-inning groundout, while the second was a product of Bichette’s RBI single in the seventh — a swing that also generated his highest exit velocity (109.6 m.p.h.) of the World Series.
Bichette adds to the lead, and it’s 5-1!
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We’re only four games (13 plate appearances) into Bichette’s return from an absence that nearly spanned two months. And yet, he’s already seemingly found his timing and confidence in the box again.
In some way, part of this shouldn’t be surprising, considering Bichette is one of baseball’s best pure bat-to-ball hitters. If there were anyone capable of hitting the ground running after missing that much time, it’d be him. The fact that he’s doing this at less than 100 per cent shouldn’t be lost on anyone, either.
“I’ll never count Bo out against anybody with a bat in his hand at any point in the calendar year,” manager John Schneider said following Tuesday’s Game 4 victory. “I think more importantly, I just think the game’s played for Bo. Again, there’s now three games left, but the games played are helping him. But I think that he’s been pretty locked in since the start of the series.”
Ever since the start of this competitive run, it’s always been Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. steering the ship, so it’s fitting that they’re now reunited on the sport’s biggest stage, just two wins away from capturing their first World Series — a goal the superstar duo has been chasing since they were teenagers.
“It’s been 10 years [since] I start playing with Bo, and having him back in the lineup — not just for me, just for the entire team, he’s a big lift, so I’m very happy that he’s back,” Guerrero said via translator Hector Lebron.
The loss of Springer — who finished third in wRC+ (166) during the regular season, behind only Shohei Ohtani (172) and Aaron Judge (204), and is destined to receive down-the-ballot MVP votes this fall — is massive for the Blue Jays, especially if their leadoff hitter’s absence spans more than a single game.
Those will be large shoes to fill. But if there’s any offence capable of overcoming an obstacle as significant as that, it’s this one — led by Guerrero and Bichette, the franchise’s cornerstone pillars of the last half-decade.