Blue Jays will have to win ALDS without the services of their injured star shortstop

After a few weeks of "cautious optimism" the Toronto Blue Jays, and their fans, have some unfortunate news regarding star shortstop Bo Bichette. It appears they will have to begin their road to the World Series without him.

According to a recent interview given by Bo's teammate, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bichette won't be available to play in their first round series which begins on Saturday at Rogers Centre. Guerrero stated, "I hope we win this series and he comes back for the next one."

Blue Jays will have to win ALDS without the services of their injured star shortstop

It is unfortunate news for the Blue Jays whose offence took a bit of a nose dive without Bichette over the final few weeks of the season. While they managed to secure the AL East division title, the Blue Jays went 12-8 over their last 20 games but it included a stretch where they lost six out of seven games and scored just five runs in those six losses combined.

The team had a slash line of .236/.295/.378 in those games without Bichette, and saw their walk rate go down from 8.5% to 7.5% and their strikeout rate go up from 17.6% to 19.1%. Sure it's a small sample size and not a giant leap in those metrics, but considering what Bichette brought to the team, it's not a surprise those metrics moved negatively in his absence.

Bichette finished the year with a .311/.357/.483 slash line and an OPS of .840. His 134 wRC+ ranked third on the team behind George Springer (162) and Guerrero Jr. (148). He also brought an old school approach to the lineup with his focus plainly centering on the "see the ball, hit the ball" mindset.

Not only was he leading the team in hits, but he finished tied for second in all of MLB in hits (181) and was only three shy of the Major League Leader (Trea Turner - 184) despite playing in 18 fewer games. In fact, nobody in the top 20 in hits in the league played less than 150 games, and Bichette finished the year with 139 games played.

While his bat will sorely be missed by the Blue Jays at the very least the defence hasn't seemed to suffer. Andrés Giménez has filled in admirably at shortstop, playing 15 games and making just one error. Ernie Clement, who leads the league in defensive runs saved overall at +23, has taken control of second base as Giménez shifts to the other side of the bag.

Throughout his injury, there's been the unfortunate possibility that he has played his last game as a Blue Jay. Bichette is set to hit free agency after the season and while Manager John Schneider and GM Ross Atkins remain optimistic, they also indicate he is still in the very early stages of recovery.

He hasn't yet progressed to running and he's been wearing a cast on his leg while throwing soft toss. According to MLB insider Buster Olney it is 'more likely' the Blue Jays get Bichette back if they make it to the ALCS. The Blue Jays brass, and the fans, will keep their fingers crossed that it isn't the last they've seen of Bo this season.