The Toronto Blue Jays ended their series with the Tampa Bay Rays in a tie after suffering a loss on Thursday and now they will head into their final three series of the regular season.
The team is hoping for some better results in the final stretch as it looks to hold off the rival New York Yankees for the top spot in the American League East division. And it’s hoping for a turnaround for an offense that has scored just one run in its last two games.
Blue Jays fans are also getting desperate for some good news on franchise shortstop Bo Bichette, who was Major League Baseball’s hits leader when he was placed on the injured list with a knee problem earlier this month.
The team is ruling out a return for Bichette in the regular season and a return for the playoffs seems increasingly unlikely as he has yet to start a rehab program. In the team’s latest decision on Bichette, it elected to bring him along for its road trip.
“Bo Bichette (knee sprain) is yet to begin baseball activities,” Mitch Bannon reported for The Athletic. “Though the Jays considered keeping Bichette in Florida to work at the player development complex, he’ll travel with the team to Kansas City. The first steps for Bichette’s return, when cleared to begin, will be throwing and hitting in the cage, (manager John) Schneider said.”
It’s hard to read too much into that decision without more details from the team, but bringing Bichette along for the trip suggests they feel he might be able to begin his rehab on the road. Certainly, if the Blue Jays felt there was any way to hasten his return to the team by leaving him in Florida, they would have opted to do so.
In any case, the team might need Bichette back and in top form if it hopes to make a deep playoff run. His bat has been critical to the Blue Jays’ success all year.