The Toronto Blue Jays will be without Bo Bichette for at least a little while longer.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider announced Tuesday that Bichette has been ruled out for the rest of the regular season due to a knee injury he sustained earlier this month. A timeline for his return is not yet known, but the team is hopeful he can make it back for the postseason later this fall.
If Bichette can’t, however, it may mean he has already played his last game in a Blue Jays uniform. Bichette is in the final year of a three-year, $33.6 million deal with Toronto and is set to hit free agency this offseason.
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Bichette went down in the Blue Jays’ loss to the New York Yankees on Sept. 6 as he was trying to beat a throw to home. Bichette slid in and was tagged out by catcher Austin Wells, but he collided hard with Wells’ shin protectors as he did so. Bichette immediately started hopping away, clearly in pain.
Bichette returned to the game after a long rain delay, but he hasn’t played since. An MRI a few days later revealed the sprain, and the team then sent him to the 10-day injured list.
Bichette currently holds a .311 batting average, which is the third best in Major League Baseball behind only Aaron Judge and Jacob Wilson. He also has 94 RBI and 18 home runs this season, his seventh in the league with Toronto.
The 27-year-old received a second opinion on his leg injury Monday, which Bichette said was “positive,” but he still isn’t ready to take the field again. He could resume baseball activity as soon as later this week and may return as the team’s designated hitter before he’s ready to play defense, but further specifics aren’t yet known.
The Blue Jays enter Tuesday night’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays with an 88-62 record, which is the best in the American League and has them on pace to win the AL East for the first time in a decade. They have 12 games left in the regular season.
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