Blue Jays: Bo Bichette heating up in the batter’s box at the right time

Tyson Shushkewich

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 02: Bo Bichette #11 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a two-run home run during the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 2, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

This season has been a bit of a whirlwind for Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, as he didn’t necessarily get off to the hottest start this season and many have questioned his defensive abilities on the left side of the diamond given his 16 errors on the year.

After the first month of the campaign, Bichette was sitting at a .213 batting average and a .535 OPS, struggling to put the ball in play while also striking out 26 times through 94 at-bats. This would be short-lived, as Bichette started finding ways to get on base and raised his batting average to .257 and a much improved .718 OPS by the end of May.

Since then, Bichette has seen his batting average hover around the .250-.270 area and has been consistent these past couple of months, sitting in the low .700s with his OPS.

However, since August 17th (and coming into today’s games), the Florida product has been on an absolute tear, crafting a .313/.378/.463 slash line with seven multi-hit games. He has also added seven doubles, seven RBI, and one home run. Today was an outstanding day for Bichette, as the 2021 AL hits leader mashed three home runs in the second game of the doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles and went 6-10 on the day with seven RBI and 15 total bases between both contests.

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette is starting to find a groove in the batter’s box as of late, which will bode well for the club down the stretch.

Bichette has seen his struggles on the defensive side of the ball, owning an 11th percentile outs above average and a -13 bDRS and needing Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s help on a few occasions. While this is still a work in progress, one that gained the respect of former manager John Gibbons, Bichette is going to be the Jays’ shortstop to finish out the year and did make some stellar plays during today’s doubleheader.

The Blue Jays have one of the better lineups when compared to the rest of the MLB and having Bichette with his hot bat is just icing on the cake, especially after today’s monster performance that flirted with Jays’ and MLB history. He’s also started to find himself in the top half of the lineup, slotting in at the three-hole yesterday and will likely find himself there for the next few games at least.

The Jays are set to face the rest of the AL East for a majority of the remaining games this season and will need to continue winning if they want to stay in the AL Wild Card playoff race.

Having Bichette continue at the pace he is now will go a long way at the top of the order to help with postseason aspirations.

Tyson Shushkewich

Tyson Shushkewich grew up in a small farming community just east of Lethbridge, Alberta. He would leave this small town for Halifax, Nova Scotia, and attend Dalhousie University, graduating with a degree in Environmental Science and Biology. Now residing in Central Ontario with his wife, Tyson has been a fan of baseball since he was 10 years old when his dad took him to his first game in Toronto. When he is not writing articles, you can find him hiking in the forests, sitting in the upper deck of the Rogers Centre, tweeting about his baseball memorabilia, or watching the game with his cat Apollo and Beagle-mix Archie.