The timing isn't good.
Bo Bichette is hurt, and he's going on the 10-day Injured List. The Toronto Blue Jays will be without their shortstop for a chunk of September.
The Blue Jays announced the move Tuesday afternoon, saying Bichette has a left knee sprain. The move is retroactive to Sunday, so Bichette can return at the earliest on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
At the time of this move, the Blue Jays hold a 2.0-game lead in the American League East over the New York Yankees. And the Boston Red Sox are one game back of the Yankees, so it's tightly packed, and the division title is still very much in play for all three.
Bichette is leading the AL in hits (181) and doubles (44) at the time of his injury. He also has 18 home runs, 94 RBI and a .311 batting average.
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He has definitely proven that his 2024 season was a fluke, as that .225 average is by far the outlier from his time in MLB.
Bichette can hit whenever he's on the field.
Bichette batted .311 in his short debut season, then .301 in the shortened 2020 season.
By 2021, he was at full throttle, hitting .298 and leading the AL with 191 hits.
In 2022, he was again the league leader in hits (189) with a .290 average.
If not for a short injury stint in 2023, he would've led again, as he raised his average to .306 with 175 hits in 135 games.
And now Bichette is raking again, with the only thing that can slow him down being this badly timed injury.
The Blue Jays will just hope their shortstop is back in time to save their spot atop the division.
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