Toronto Blue Jays news: Bo Bichette’s knee injury adds to disappointment
By Ryan Patrick
The Toronto Blue Jays dropped two of three games to the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend and also lost shortstop Bo Bichette to a knee injury.
It wasn’t a good weekend for the Toronto Blue Jays for a number of reasons as they ended their series with the Tampa Bay Rays in disappointing fashion, which has become a theme so far this season. On top of that, they also lost their young star shortstop Bo Bichette.
The weekend started out on a promising note, as Tampa Bay came into the series riding a five-game winning streak but Toronto absolutely spanked them 12-4 on Friday night. The offence was led by Teoscar Hernandez (3-5, 2 HR, 4 RBI) and Bichette (2-5, 1 HR, 3 RBI). However, that was about the only thing to get excited about.
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Saturday’s game was postponed in the fouth inning due to rain, with Tampa leading 1-0 at the time. According to Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling, it was after the game was suspended that Bichette told the club he had felt something in his knee.
The Blue Jays resumed the game on Sunday afternoon without Bichette in the lineup. The Rays finished up the game with a 3-2 victory, after Jordan Romano allowed his first earned run of the season in the ninth inning.
The series finale was played right after, and was only scheduled to be a seven inning game due to MLB’s rule for all doubleheader during the 2020 season, unless extra innings are required. In this case they were, as the Rays came away with a 7-5 win in eight innings.
So now the Blue Jays are left with a mediocre 7-11 record and no real timetable for when to expect Bichette back in the lineup. Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reported that the knee injury might be worse than initially expected and Bichette could be sidelined until September, which would obviously be a massive blow to the team.
This means that everyone is going to have to step up in a big way if there’s any hope for this team to make a late-season run. Bichette has arguably been Toronto’s best player this season, and now the attention will surely be on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to help carry the offence, with him struggling to meet expectation this season.
The team is nearly a third of the way through the regular season, and their already slim post-season chances are fading fast. The loss of Bichette only makes the Blue Jays’ chances even more precarious.
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What are the Toronto Blue Jays’ chances to try and remain in contention with Bichette sidelined? Who needs to step up with him out of the lineup? Let us know in the comments below.