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Toronto Blue Jays: Bo Bichette’s call up delayed by roster logjam

By David Morassutti

Fernando Tatis #23 of the San Diego Padres and the World Team (R) jokes with Bo Bichette #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays and the U.S. Team after stealing second base in the third inning against the U.S. Team during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
Fernando Tatis #23 of the San Diego Padres and the World Team (R) jokes with Bo Bichette #5 of the Toronto Blue Jays and the U.S. Team after stealing second base in the third inning against the U.S. Team during the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Blue Jays fans and Bo Bichette will have to wait a little longer for his promotion with little to no room for the prospect to get regular playing time.

When word got out that Rowdy Tellez was being optioned to triple-A Buffalo, many were the Toronto Blue Jays to finally announce that Bo Bichette would be promoted to the big leagues.

Unfortunately for Bichette, the Blue Jays decided to use the roster spot to bring up Billy McKinney who proceeded to hit a two-run homer in his first game back against the Boston Red Sox. It’s understandable why Bichete wasn’t the choice but still disappointing considering the impact he’s had since returning from his injury.

In 43 games this season, Bichette is slashing .298/.360/.482 along with five home runs and 27 RBIs.  To give you a comparable, Cavan Biggio was hitting .312/.448/.514 with six home runs and 27 RBIs before getting promoted. The broken hand certainly didn’t help Bichette but you can see that he’s producing well enough at the plate to get the call.

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The problem when you look at the Blue Jays’ roster is that it’s hard to see the 21-year-old getting regular playing time. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. playing at third and Cavan Biggio at second base, the only open spot for Bichette would be at shortstop and it would be tough to see the team wanting to platoon him and Freddy Galvis right now.

The Blue Jays are at a point where they need to maximize their trade assets which means players like Galvis, Eric Sogard, and Justin Smoak need to play so why not leave Bichette to play regularly in the minors until then?

"“Of course there’s discussions about Bichette,” manager Charlie Montoyo tells Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “He’s playing well. (The move) was more about McKinney, giving him a chance and creating that DH spot.”"

It’s obviously tough for a player like Bichette to wait for his turn and it looks like his patience could be wearing thin. Bichette took to Twitter on Monday night and it’s not hard to decipher the message he’s sending.

The last thing the Blue Jays want is for a promising prospect like Bichette to feel discouraged and hopefully, management is being upfront about when they expect to promote him. It’s not like the team is wasting his prime and are trying to manipulate service time as they did with Vlad Jr.

Bichette should take the time to make sure he is truly ready to make the jump because the last thing the team wants is for him to be overwhelmed and be sent back down. If he is going to be promoted to the team, it should be on a fulltime basis.

Next. Potential trade destinations for Marcus Stroman. dark

What do you think about Bichette’s situation? Should he have been called up or should he wait for the roster logjam to be cleared up? Let us know in the comments below. 

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