Bo Bichette has been a Blue Jay since we drafted him in the second round of the 2016 draft, so ten years now, seven of them with the major league team.
He was a top prospect, reaching number eight on Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list. In 2017 he was number on nine our top 40 list (mistakes were made, TJ Zeuch and Conner Greene were in the two spots ahead of him), moving up to number two in 2018 (you can guess who was number one).
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In 2018 I wrote:
Bo’s second pro season went as well as his first. He hit .362/.423/.564 splitting time between Lansing and Dunedin with 14 home runs.
Bo is on everyone’s list of Top 100 MLB prospects, 8th on Baseball America’s, 14th on MLB’s and 19th on Baseball Prospectus.
About the only question is can he stay at short. Some think he’ll have to move to second, but if he continues to hit as well as he has, we’ll be ok with a little less than terrific range. He has been working at his defense. It might come down to which position is open when it is time to call him up.
He was called up at the end of July in 2019, and started his MLB career with an 11 game hitting streak and finished the season with a .311/.358/.571 line with 11 home runs in 46 games. 2021 was COVID shortened, but he hit .301/.328/.512 in 29 games, and the Jays made it to the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
In 2021, he finally got to play a full season, and he showed us what he could do, leading the league in hits with 191, slugging 29 home runs and made the All-Star team for the first time
And he would do, pretty much, the same for the just of his time with the Jays (excepting the 2024 season), putting up OPS numbers in the lower .800s. Being at or near the top of the league in hits, getting his 20ish home runs a year.
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It was strange, he was consistently about the same in OPS, but he would get there in different ways, sometimes he would start out slow and save his season in the last month. Sometimes he would start hot and slump near the end, finishing in that same area. Last year, he had a .738 OPS at the end of June, but then had a terrific second half, getting it up to .840 before the injury that ended his regular season.
2024 was the outlier, he had a .225/.277/.322 after 81 games. I was sure he’d have a terrific second half to bring his numbers back to his career norms, but then an injury took away his chance.
In a way, it is too bad that he came up at the same time as Vlad. Vlad has charisma, an obvious sense of humour, and a sense of fun. Bo didn’t always show those things, or at least not to the point where they weren’t overshadowed by Vlad.
Bo seemed more guarded, I guess more business-like. He didn’t have the interview answers with Hazel that made you smile or made you like him more. Maybe if Vlad wasn’t so…..Vlad like we’d feel more connected to Bo.
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But then Bo seemed great with his teammates. He always seemed to be chatting with someone on the bench and there were moments when he’d allow himself a little smile or something that showed us there was a personality in there.
If they had come up together 40 years ago (well, maybe 60 years ago), everyone would say that Bo was serious about the game, that he was a student of the game and was always looking to get better, and Vlad would be written off (at least a bit) for being a clown, for not being serious about the game.
I put in ‘Bo Bichette personality’ in Google and the AI summery said
…a mix of fiery competitiveness, perfectionism, infectious energy, and surprising sincerity, known for his aggressive play style, leadership by example (always early, working hard), and growing willingness to discuss mental health, contrasting a seemingly carefree exterior with a deep internal drive for success. He’s charismatic, connects with fans, and leads with an intense desire to win, viewing baseball as a mental battle, yet remains grounded and focused on his craft.
That seems very fair. Everything seems ‘on field’ with him. You don’t see Bichette commercials between innings. When there is an interview with him, he keeps it focused on baseball, there is very little personal stuff involved.
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Among the bullet points:
Authentic & Vulnerable (Increasingly): He’s opening up about the pressures of the game, viewing it as true strength, a shift from stoicism.
He did talk about the pressures, some last year, when he was struggling.
I think the Mets were smart to offer a shorter-term contract (though $42 million a year seems a lot of money). I’ve often thought he was unlikely to age well, since he doesn’t control the strike zone, but then he is smart and driven, perhaps he’ll figure out how to continue to be great as his reflexes slow a bit.
I’m not sure that third base is the right spot for him. I think he’d be much better at second base, but again, he’s a hard worker and smart, so he’ll figure out how to play it to the best of his abilities.
As much as I have worries that he won’t age well, I’m sorry to see him go. I’m not tired of watching him play. I’d like to see how he deals with playing into his 30s. See if he can remake himself. See if he can gain some control over the strike zone. And I’d like to watch him learn a new position.
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I’m not too worried about the loss of his leadership skills. We seem to have a number of good leaders on the team. And I think we’ll be ok with the loss of his bat. But we’ve been following him up close for seven seasons (and following his rise through the minors before that). I’m going to miss watching him play (as much as I’m not going to miss Buck praising his two-strike approach when the stats don’t show that he is great with two strikes).
Best of luck with the Mets, Bo. Thanks for all the great memories. Thanks, especially, for the home run in the World Series.
