Blue Jays: Septem-Bo – Looking back at Bichette’s Magical Month

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette is coming off the best month of his career in September.

Bichette hit seemingly everything in sight and, in turn, raised his numbers approaching and surpassing the high bar set with his sublime 2021 campaign.

More importantly, Bo’s productivity led to the best calendar month of the season and has put the Jays in a position to make some noise in the postseason.

Blue Jays:  Bo’s Big Breakthrough

Entering September, Bichette seemed destined to fall short of the gaudy numbers he racked up last year.

At the end of August, Bo was hitting .263, with 17 home runs, 31 doubles, and 66 RBI. Those are all respectable totals, but it seemed impossible to get near last year’s stats: .298, 29 HR, 102 RBI masterpiece.

Bichette got his month off to a hot start by going 3-5 with a homer and 2 RBI in a series-opening win over Pittsburgh. He’d get a hit in half of his 12 at-bats with 5 RBI in a vital series sweep. The Blue Jays won those games 4-0, 4-1, and 4-3.

Bo followed that by going 10-for-15 with four home runs, including three in one game, in the first three games of the next series against Baltimore.

The team won eight of its first nine games in September, and they and Bichette were well on their way.

The former second-round pick back in 2016 recorded 48 hits during the month and is now the American League leader in that category. It’s also the highest total for any player in any month this season. He had multiple hits in 17 of 28 games, including five games with three or more hits. Bo had at least one hit in all but three games.

Blue Jays:  Bichette has put it all together

Bichette hit .403 (48-119) in September, with seven homers, 11 doubles, and 27 RBI. He now leads the AL in hits and doubles and has his season totals closer to last year.

He’s now hitting .291 with 24 home runs, 187 hits, and 93 RBI, increasing his OPS from .725 to .809. Bo stole three bases in four attempts and now has 12 swipes in 20 attempts, a far cry from the 25 steals in 26 tries in 2021.

It hasn’t all been roses for the young infielder. Bichette committed six errors in September and another on Saturday. That brings his season total up to 23, just one less than last season’s total. There was also the mental error when he failed to stay on second base after a hit last week, but those have been the exception, not the rule.

The encouraging thing is that Bichette has carried his sizzling September into October. He went 4-for-4 on Saturday versus the Red Sox and could find himself in the top-10 of MVP balloting after finishing 12th last year. He’s also a nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award but is also likely driven by the pursuit of another prize, a World Series title.