Blue Jays dealt major injury blow ahead of huge series with Astros

The Toronto Blue Jays didn't just lose two games to the Yankees in New York over the weekend, they've also now lost their star shortstop for the next little while. Bo Bichette is slated to hit the 10-day IL to recover from a knee sprain he suffered in Saturdays 3-1 loss in the Bronx.

Several Blue Jays reporters tweeted out on Tuesday afternoon that Bichette's time on the IL will be retroactive to September 7. The timing of the injury couldn't be worse for the Blue Jays and the 27-year-old. Toronto are set to begin a big series with the Astros at Rogers Centre on Tuesday evening. Both teams are fighting for a potential first-round bye and the Astros currently hold the tiebreaker over the Blue Jays after sweeping them in Houston near the beginning of the season.

Bichette, meantime, was hoping to have a strong finish to what has been a terrfic bounce back campaign. The impending free agent has produced a 3.3 bWAR this year, batting .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and leading the league with 181 hits. While this shouldn't affect Bichette's status when he hits the market after the end of the season (as expected) it does hurt the Blue Jays as they could use his bat in these contests that will increasingly feel like "must-win" games.

Bichette was also making a push to not only lead the American League in hits, but the entire MLB, something he has not yet accomplished in his career. He was two ahead of Trea Turner of the Phillies, who will surely surpass Bichette over the next week and a bit while Bichette recovers. Bichette was also chasing the MLB batting title, his .311 average ranked third overall in MLB, behind Aaron Judge of the Yankees who began the day with a .321 average, and Jacob Wilson of the Athletics who was sitting at .315.

Bichette has always been a strong producer in the final weeks of the season. In his career he owns a .329/.371/.545 slash line with a .916 OPS in 121 games during September/October (regular season only) while hitting 22 home runs (the second highest number of any month) and 162 hits (also second highest).

In his absence the Blue Jays have recalled Joey Loperfido. The left-handed hitting outfielder had a great cameo for the Blue Jays in the middle of the season. He hit .358/.409/.506 with three home runs in 30 games. Although he has struggled since being sent back down to Triple-A Buffalo, he's also spent time learning a new position, by getting some reps in at first base. How that pays off for the Blue Jays in this scenario remains to be seen, but if the Blue Jays can get the same productive Loperfido into the lineup, it will lessen the sting somewhat of losing Bichette.