Bo Bichette was called up by the Toronto Blue Jays on July 28th after Toronto traded away veteran infielder Eric Sogard. He played in his first regular-season MLB game on July 29th against the Kansas City Royals, recording a hit, but no one could have expected what was about to come.
Bichette would go on to have a record-breaking start to his career, setting both an MLB and club record on August 6th against the Tampa Bay Rays. Bichette became the first player ever to record ten extra-base hits in his first nine Major League games and becoming the first Blue Jay to start his career with a nine-game hitting streak.
Bichette’s hitting streak would continue for two more games, giving him an eleven game hit streak to start his career, now that is an excellent first impression. Despite losing the streak, Bichette hasn’t lost his hitting touch at all. In his first 91 at-bats, he has an average of .341 with seven homers and 11 RBI for the Blue Jays since being called up this season.
Anyone that knew about Bichette before his debut shouldn’t be at all surprised to see what he has been able to do, he has proven over and over again in prior years how good of a hitter he is and has the potential to be.
His best statistical year came in 2017 when he split time between the Dunedin Blue Jays and Lansing Lugnuts in Minor League affiliated ball. Bichette batted a fantastic .362 recording 162 hits in only 110 games, also hitting 14 homers and 74 RBI while stealing 22 bases. He can do it all.
Bichette is added to a Blue Jay team that has a very promising future, with other notable names in rising star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and rising star Cavan Biggio who were already on the Jays roster before Bichette being called up.
Guerrero Jr. started his MLB career off slowly but since then has been what many scouts and fans believed he would be. On the season he is now batting .278 with 14 homers and 54 RBI, making a very good bid for the AL Rookie of the Year award. Biggio has been a little less impressive with an average of .209 on the season with ten homers and 31 RBI for the Blue Jays.
With Bichette only being 21 years old, Vladdy being 20 and Biggio being 24 this trio can be a considerable force in the MLB for many years to come. The Blue Jays are set up to be a real force as these guys develop and the front office brings in other guys around them.
On top of Bichettes amazing bat, he has also become a pretty good defender. One of the main critiques that scouts gave Bichette two years ago when he was playing in the minors was that his defense needed work.
The scouts that watched him back in 2017 said that he was a capable shortstop in the minors but that the level he was at would not translate well into the big leagues.
Bichette took those words and has worked hard since then saying, “I’ve done everything they’ve asked me to do. I’ve performed. I’ve put up numbers, gotten better offensively and defensively, everything they’ve asked me to do I’ve done.”
Despite Bichette’s defensive flaws he had a stellar scouting report with the scouts all-around speaking very highly of him, saying that “He is worth every bit of the hype he is receiving, he’s got some Ian Kinsler and Dustin Pedroia in him, two of the best offensive second baseman in this century.”
Bichette will only continue to get better as he becomes more comfortable with the MLB level of play. He is already showing significant signs of maturity at such a young age and him, Guerrero Jr. and Biggio will all be able to help each other improve in what is going to be a journey to these three all becoming stars in the bigs.
Only time will tell, but Bichette has undoubtedly proven that he will be an outstanding player for years to come as he rises to his full potential. The Blue Jays have plenty of young talent to work with and should be in great shape as they head into the future with hopes to contend.
