TORONTO – All-star shortstop Bo Bichette is progressing in his recovery from a strained calf.
Bichette took batting practice and fielded groundballs with his Toronto Blue Jays teammates on Tuesday, a day after running the basepaths at Rogers Centre. The 26-year-old Bichette has not played since July 19 and has been recovering at the club’s spring training complex in Dunedin, Fla.
“He’s going to come with us to Atlanta to kind of continue to do everything,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider in his office at Rogers Centre ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. “If it works out that after that weekend, he’s ready to roll, that’d be great.”
It is the second time this season Bichette has been placed on the injured list with a calf strain. The two-time all-star has struggled this season with a .222 batting average, four home runs, and 30 runs batted in.
Schneider said shortstop Leo Jimenez was fine after tumbling into the stands on a highlight-reel catch in Toronto’s 4-3 loss to the Twins in Minnesota on Sunday. The rookie was held out of Tuesday’s lineup against the Philadelphia Phillies after his “eventful” day, with Ernie Clement taking over at short.
Toronto pitching prospect Jake Bloss started for the Buffalo Bisons against the IronPigs on Tuesday evening. Schneider said the Blue Jays’ organization would be keeping a close eye on Bloss’s outing as he could be a September callup.
“I think if (Bloss) does come up here, it would definitely be as a starter,” said Schneider. “Few different ways we could do it. Could do six-man rotation, you could do piggyback, you could do a variety of things.”
Bloss has a 6.35 earned-run average over four starts with triple-A Buffalo. He has struck out nine while giving up 15 hits and eight runs over 11 1/3 innings since Toronto acquired the 23-year-old right-hander from the Houston Astros on July 29 as part of a trade for Yusei Kikuchi.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2024.