Blue Jays: How does Bo Bichette injury impact 2019 roster?

Bo Bichette, #2 ranked prospect in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, has been diagnosed with a broken finger after taking a pitch off his left hand while playing in AAA. What does this injury mean for Bo’s immediate future and will this impact his chances of making the Blue Jays in 2019?

Down 0-2 in the count, starting pitcher Hector Santiago of the Syracuse Mets would come inside and high on Bo Bichette, vying for the strikeout. The ball would travel a little too far inside, and while Bichette got his body out of the way of the ball, he would leave his hands up for just a half second too long.

The fastball would hit Bichette right in the knuckle area on his left hand, and he would be in a considerable amount of pain before leaving the game.

It was confirmed the next day by multiple sources that Bichette did indeed have a broken bone on one of his fingers on his non-throwing hand. He was going to seek a second opinion, but it is more than likely that this injury will put him on the injured list.

The extent of this kind of injury can be a little hard to tell when it comes to recovery time. The break is on his non-throwing hand which is a bit of a plus but any type of hand/finger injury will make it difficult for the player to hold the bat properly while in the batter’s box.

He will most likely be sidelined for a while longer until he feels comfortable again with a bat in his hands but also because the Blue Jays will not rush one of their top prospects back from injury.

So how will this injury impact Bo’s chances of playing in the MLB this year?

It will honestly depend on how long Bichette is put on the injured list and can fully resume playing every day again. The Toronto Blue Jays were not publicly saying when we would be seeing Bichette in a Jays uniform, but his chances would’ve been better later on in the season in August or September, especially when the roster is expanded.

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The reason for this is that Bichette, unfortunately, got off to a bit of a rough start in AAA, going 2-20 at the plate in his first five games of the season. He would go on to turn this around, as he just finished an 8 game hit streak a game prior to the one he got hit in. His slash line at the time of his injury was .250/.310/.404, which was aided by his recent hit streak over the past eight games.

Bichette was also likely not making an appearance this year due to the caution the Blue Jays front office has shown when it comes to promoting top talent to the major league level. When the Jays do decide to promote Bo to the big leagues, it will most likely be a permanent placement, hence why we may not see him on the roster this season.

Now as a fan, you can argue both ways in terms of why the team should promote Bichette to the big league roster. Some more time in the minor leagues may do him some good before he becomes a full-time MLB player, but the Blue Jays could call him up in September for more practice against major league arms.

One thing that is for sure is that this injury to Bichette’s left hand will surely not aid his chances in making it to the active roster anytime soon.

It was already not guaranteed that Bichette would not make an appearance this year, and given that he is now sidelined with an injury, his path to the majors may, unfortunately, take a little longer. Here is to a speedy recovery.