Blue Jays: Semien and Bichette are the best combo in history

Shortstop Bo Bichette and second basemen Marcus Semien are breaking Toronto Blue Jays team and Major League records for the 2021 season.

Let’s go back to the off-season for a paragraph or two.

The Blue Jays were rumored to be wanting to upgrade their middle infield. Infielder Jonathan Villar, who the club acquired at the trade deadline, became a free agent and signed with the New York Mets. Infielder Cavan Biggio was moved to third base in the latter half of the season was destined to break camp as the Blue Jays starting third basemen.

There were rumors that Bo Bichette was talking to the Blue Jays front office and advising them that he was willing to play anywhere if the club decided to grab a superstar shortstop. That’s when the off-season rumor mill started to light up. There were rumors that Cleveland was intending on moving their superstar shortstop Fransisco Lindor as they were entering a rebuilding phase. A lot of insiders had the Blue Jays in on Lindor sending some sort of package with Lourdes Gurriel Jr as a piece going the other way. Well, that didn’t materialize as Lindor was traded to the Mets instead.

General Manager Ross Atkins was not discouraged by the Lindor trade. He decided to upgrade his team’s middle infield through the free-agent market instead of moving key pieces with organizational control. For some reason by the grace of the baseball gods, Marcus Semien was available and willing to talk. Semien, the former Oakland Athletics infielder and 2019 MVP finalist couldn’t come to terms with the Athletics and wasn’t submitted a qualifying offer and the Blue Jays were keen on his services. Semien not only agreed to sign with the Blue Jays for one year and $18 million dollars, but he was also willing to move off his long-time position to play second base.

Shortstop Bo Bichette and second basemen Marcus Semien are breaking Toronto Blue Jays team and Major League records for the 2021 season.

Semien was known for his leadership in Oakland and was loved and well respected in their clubhouse. The team aptly nicknamed him “Captain” because of how he went about the day-to-day business that is the game of baseball. Semien played in all 162 games in 2019 and 159 the year before that and has been on record many times this season saying he wants to be in the lineup every day. This has had a huge effect on many of his teammates with the Blue Jays. Just look at how many games his double-play partner Bo Bichette (157)  and MVP candidate Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (161) have played this year alone.

We all knew Semien can hit the ball out of the park. He knocked out 33 home runs in 2019 and 27 a few years before that in 2016. On my podcast, I told listeners that I would not be surprised if Semien hit 40 home runs playing most of his games in American League East ballparks. I used Josh Donaldson as an example. In 2014, Donaldson clubbed 29 home runs for the Athletics prior to being traded to the Jays in the 2015 off-season in which he won the MVP award and hit 43 home runs. The Ball Park factor is a real thing kids.

As mentioned, Bo Bichette has played 157 games this campaign. This is his first full 162 game Major League Season. Bo wasn’t known as a power hitter coming up through the minor leagues, however, we saw just how hard and how far he can hit the baseball in 2019. Bo hit 11 home runs in his debut year in 2019 leading to a 5.2 home run percentage which is actually the highest throughout his young career.

Bichette currently leads the American League in hits with 189. He also broke Tony Batista’s franchise home run record for shortstops with at least 29 heading into today’s game. He also set an RBI record for the position by joining the 100 club earlier this week. It will be interesting to watch today to see if Bo has a chance of joining the 30/20 homer and stolen base club, with the shortstop needing a home run today against the Orioles to reach the feat.

It’s become apparent in 2021 that the duo of Bichette and Semien is very productive offensively. Where does that put them with other great double-play duos?

In 2019, the New York Yankees duo of Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMaheiu combined for 64 home runs and 192 runs batted in. Even though Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve of the Astros are both having very solid seasons, the closest they have come to what Bichette and Semien have done was in 2016 when Correa hit 20 homers and drove in 96 while Altuve hit 24 bombs and also drove in 96 runs.

We can dig back further to Detroit Tigers Icons Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker who are considered by most fans as the greatest double-play combination in the modern era. Trammel had a phenomenal 1987 campaign with 28 home runs and 105 runs driven in. Whitaker’s best year offensively came when he banged out 28 home runs and drove in 85 runs in 1989. As great as they were as a duo, they did not produce those great numbers in the same year.

What Bichette and Semien have done is absolutely awesome. I have always had the discussion on my podcast about who the greatest double combination was in Blue Jays history.

No one has hit more home runs in a single season while playing second base than Marcus Semien. There has never been a shortstop in Blue Jays history that has driven in 100 runs or more as Bo Bichette did.

To me, these guys are the best double-play combination this club has had and I haven’t even mentioned their defense. I hope just like you do that Bichette and Semien will be up the middle for years to come.