The Blue Jays face the possibility of having to hold off the Yankees in the AL East without one of their hottest hitters.
Toronto placed Bo Bichette on the 10-day IL with a left knee sprain, with just 19 games remaining and a slim two-game lead over the Yankees for the division title heading into play on Tuesday.
Bichette, in a contract year, was injured during a collision at home plate in The Bronx on Saturday, as he made knee-to-knee contact on a hard slide into Yankees catcher Austin Wells.
He finished the game, and the injury did not look serious at the time. After X-rays came back negative, it appeared as if the worst was a cut on his left shin.
The 27-year-old infielder then went for an MRI, which showed the sprain, after experiencing soreness on Sunday and Monday.
“It sucks. Any time of year, to lose a guy who’s hitting in the middle of your order and playing short, it sucks,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters. “Hopefully, he can get back as soon as he can. Again, I don’t want to say, ‘Holy [crap], there’s a dark cloud over us right now.’ You’ve got to continue to move on.”
Schneider told reporters the team is optimistic about having Bichette back before the regular season is over, but did not want to give an exact timeline.
Bichette, an All-Star in 2021 and 2023, is “not going to do anything this week,” and his absence could be a major blow to the Blue Jays.
Bichette, who has a .311 average this season, had been scorching hot since the start of July, batting .372 with a 996.OPS. He is third in the race for the AL batting title. Joey Loperfido was called up from Triple-A Buffalo to fill Bichette’s spot on the roster.
The Yankees and Blue Jays do not play head-to-head again this season.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
