Toronto Blue Jays: Bo Bichette making strides in his rookie year
Bo Bichette has amassed a pretty impressive resume in his short time in the MLB. How will the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop do with a full season under his belt next year?
The Toronto Blue Jays fanbase could be heard in early May and June chanting in the stands, “we want Bo” over and over again. I can’t personally say I blame them to be honest.
Bo Bichette was performing well in the minor leagues, and even he was just patiently waiting for his cell phone to ring, bearing the news we all knew was coming. The issue was that there was nowhere for him to play given the current roster and he had missed some time early in the season with a broken hand.
Then the news came down the pipeline that current shortstop Eric Sogard had been traded at the trade deadline to the Tampa Bay Rays, which meant the Bo Show was about to go North of the border.
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It was in Kansas City where Bichette would begin his major league career, a series that would churn out an impressive 6 hits in 13 at-bats, with 1 double, 1 home run, and 1 RBI.
This would continue onwards throughout the season, with Bichette finishing the 2019 campaign with an impressive .311/.358/.571, along with 18 doubles, 11 home runs, 21 RBIs and a 2.1 WAR. In 46 games, he would also strikeout 50 times in 196 at-bats, which is something he will need to try and work on over the sophomore season.
Bo Bichette would also smash some records along the way, collecting a double in 9 straight consecutive games. He would also break the MLB record for hitting 10 extra-base hits in his first 9 career games and a Toronto Blue Jays record for starting his career with an 11 game hitting streak.
With that in mind, this is just a small glimpse of his ability, considering he only participated in 1/3 of the regular season.
Bo Bichette will 100% start next season as the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop (barring injury), and it will be interesting to see what he can accomplish with a full season on the horizon. He will have to work his way out of hitting slumps and tough times, something he never really experienced during his quick glance in 2019.
He will also deal with the rigorous schedule of 162 games with limited time off throughout the baseball season, another aspect that Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays will have to limit and monitor over the year.
It will be interesting to see how Bichette performs this season, as he will be tasked with the tall order of being one of the prospects that will guide a franchise in the midst of a rebuild to the greener pastures of playoff baseball. Something Bichette doesn’t seem too fazed by and appears to be ready to take his game to the next level.
Next. Toronto Blue Jays: Battle for starting rotation spots this spring. dark
While playoff baseball in Toronto will most likely not be accomplished in 2020, the Toronto Blue Jays could potentially reach the promised land of October baseball within the next five years, and Bo Bichette will stand on the diamond with the other farm developed rookies on the forefront of that playoff-bound squad.
All hail the new King of the North.