TORONTO – Bo Bichette’s status for the American League Championship Series remains clouded after he attempted to run the bases Saturday for the first time since spraining his left knee last month, and walked off the field in apparent discomfort.
In video taken by Sportsnet, the star Toronto Blue Jays shortstop is seen leading off from first base, taking off for second and grimacing after rounding the bag before pulling up. He then walks over to third base where Blue Jays bench coach Don Mattingly, first base coach Mark Budzinski, medical director Andrew Pipkin and strength and conditioning coach Scott Weberg were overseeing his running and dropped to the turf.
The group conferred for a couple minutes before Bichette, visibly frustrated, walked off the field gingerly.
Bichette has been out since spraining the PCL in his left knee Sept. 6 sliding into Yankees catcher Austin Wells, but expressed optimism about being ready for the ALCS on Wednesday after the Blue Jays eliminated New York, saying he’s made “made some huge progress the last few days.”
Running the bases was the final hurdle he needed to clear. Rosters for the best-of-seven clash with the Seattle Mariners are due by 10 a.m. ET Sunday, several hours before Game 1 at Rogers Centre (8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Sportsnet).
Manager John Schneider, speaking with media while Bichette was on the bases, said the club’s decision on whether to roster him rested on “seeing how he gets through running the bases, turning corners, things like that, and to kind of see how the rest of his day goes.”
On Friday, Bichette did some “running in the outfield and we’ll check in with him here shortly.”
There was no further update from the club.
Asked how much availability the Blue Jays needed from Bichette to put him on the roster, Schneider said the club wasn’t “sure yet, to be honest with you.”
“We’re trying to weigh out – I’m trying to weigh out – is it every day? Is it off the bench? Obviously you want his bat in the lineup,” he continued. “I think just kind of getting to the spot with him and getting his feedback, him being part of it, how much, if at all, he’s going to be compromised, and if not, OK, and how that kind of affects everyone else that we’re going to try to use and deploy. To say everyday availability would be best-case scenario, yeah, that’s pretty easy, but I think it’s a weird time crunch with the series starting (Sunday) and him having to check some boxes here today, too.”
Bichette’s status is the key question facing the Blue Jays on the position-player side for the ALCS, but far from the only one related to the roster.
Schneider hinted strongly that both Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, left off the roster for the ALDS series versus the Yankees, will draw back in for the Mariners, saying “they’re both feeling good and are definitely ready and available,” later adding that he “could definitely see them being part of it.”
The Blue Jays would “most likely” stick with Trey Yesavage in Game 2 and Shane Bieber in Game 3 although “nothing definitive yet,” added Schneider, potentially setting up Scherzer – who threw a five-inning, 95-pitch sim game Tuesday – for Game 4 in Seattle.
Bassitt, who finished the season on the injured list, threw three innings and 45 pitches in that sim game and Schneider said he’s built up enough to provide similar length versus the Mariners.
“He could pitch one inning, he could pitch four or five,” said Schneider. “I’ve said it before, Chris does weird well, and he understands that this time of year, whatever we need from him, he’s going to go out and give.”
The same goes for Scherzer, used the downtime to work on some of the issues that led to him allowing 25 runs in 25 innings over his final six starts of the regular season, while retaining as much of his stamina as possible.
“I simulated a long inning, really tried to tax my arm so that if I did get put on the roster for the ALCS, I at least kind of made a start and kept myself in rhythm to get back out there,” said Scherzer. “I didn’t finish the season well, I needed to pitch better, I needed to get some things right and that’s what I was trying to do.”
Ty France, who finished the season on the injured list with left oblique inflammation, also used the downtime to try and get himself right, taking “about 15 live at-bats” and “is good to go” should the Blue Jays decide to carry him.
France was a member of the Mariners during their 2022 wild-card sweep at Rogers Centre and with the 1977 expansion cousins meeting again, “thinking about it is a little weird,” he said, “but I’m excited to be on this side.”
“I know what it was like to be the visiting player and what an uncomfortable environment this was – I’m excited to not have a whole country rooting against me,” France added. “It’s going to be it’s going to be a fun matchup. They can pitch. We can hit. It’ll be fun.”
Other options for the Blue Jays include sticking with Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who made two starts in the division series versus left-handers Max Fried and Carlos Rodon and twice came in for late-inning defence; or adding Joey Loperfido, who’d offer another left-handed bat versus the predominantly right-handed Seattle bullpen.
Bichette, of course, is the first call, one that remains uncertain.
