TORONTO — Carlos Febles made sure to keep his messaging to Bo Bichette simple over the past few days. The Toronto Blue Jays‘ infield instructor didn’t want to overload the shortstop with information as he prepared to return as a second baseman.
“I don’t want you to start thinking about different things,” Febles told Bichette. “I want you to go out and just play the game. Just be an athlete. That’s it.”
Bichette was pencilled into the lineup at the keystone on Friday for the opener of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in what was his first game action since Sept. 6, when he suffered a left knee sprain sliding into home plate.
As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, it marked the first time in his seven-year MLB career that Bichette has manned any position outside of shortstop. He played in 30 games (262 total innings) at second base over his four minor-league seasons, an extremely small sample size to draw experience from.
And yet, it didn’t take long for Bichette to make an impact on Friday.
In the third inning, Teoscar Hernandez drilled a 99.7-m.p.h. grounder up the middle and Bichette ranged to his right. He backhanded the ball for a nice pick and then, in one fluid motion, transferred it, turned and delivered an accurate throw to first to nab Hernandez.
The highlight-reel play not only saved a run from scoring but also secured a key second out in the inning, helping Blue Jays’ starter Trey Yesavage limit the damage to just one run.
“Just let the athleticism take over,” Bichette said matter-of-factly when asked for his thoughts on the play following the Blue Jays’ dominant 11-4 win at Rogers Centre.
His teammates were more expansive.
“It was sick. I love how he reacted and the way that he turned around and made the throw,” said shortstop Andres Gimenez. “That’s not easy but he made it look easy.”
“That’s a tough play and the way he got rid of it, I feel like he looked like a natural second baseman out there,” said infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
“He looked like a natural,” Clement said. “It’s him trusting his instincts and just being a ballplayer at the end of the day.”
Friday was filled with emotion for Bichette, who was forced to watch the Blue Jays’ entire post-season run from the sidelines. He remarked prior to the game that it was a “challenging experience” for him to not play, but that he also “prioritized staying with the group, taking time to hang out with the guys in the clubhouse and then making sure that my work was done before the game started so I was able to be as locked in as possible in the dugout and try and watch the game and stay involved that way.”
As the sideline introductions were underway before first pitch, Bichette made sure to soak in the rousing ovation from the 44,353 in attendance. Then, as the game unfolded, he finally had the chance to play alongside his teammates as opposed to observing from the dugout.
“Yeah, it’s way better,” said Bichette. “Way better.”
He had been trying to stay sharp at the plate by taking live batting practice at times over the past few weeks. With the minor-league season over, there was no opportunity for Bichette to go on a rehab stint to regain his timing at the plate.
However, that didn’t present a concern for the Blue Jays, according to manager John Schneider.
“Bo is, I think, one of the most talented hitters in the game in terms of bat-to-ball, in terms of having the knack to drive guys in, hitting pitches that not everyone can hit,” Schneider said. “Talking to him with where his timing was, you go, ‘Okay, I think he’s ready.’ Is it hard to do? Hell yeah. I mean, this is not easy. I think if there’s anyone that can do it, it’s him.
“You can probably drag him off vacation this off-season and say, ‘Go get a hit,’ and he’s probably the guy to do it.”
Bichette lived up to that reputation in Game 1. In the first inning he sent a Blake Snell changeup dribbling the opposite way for a cue ball single and, in the sixth, he opened the frame by drawing a key walk off the left-hander that started a nine-run rally for the Blue Jays that included a grand slam from Addison Barger and a two-run shot from Alejandro Kirk.
Bichette was replaced by pinch-runner Kiner-Falefa and said following the game that his knee was fine, even though he appeared to be moving gingerly at times in the contest.
“I thought he handled himself really well. His at-bats looked like him,” said Schneider. “That was kind of the plan going in, was to see if we can get him three at-bats against a starter, see how he’s feeling and probably play it a little bit cautiously from there.”
Bichette’s defence, rather than his bat, was always going to be the question mark. He approached Schneider and Co. with the idea of moving to second base, a machination that could help the team by allowing George Springer to remain in the designated hitter spot.
“It was something that I felt like I could get ready for quicker than another position,” said Bichette. “I just want to be ready to help the team in any way that is afforded to me, so that felt like an opportunity for me and, obviously, they were onboard with it.”
He sought advice from Gimenez, Clement and Kiner-Falefa on the finer details of the new position and the overarching theme from his teammates echoed the message from Febles.
“I told him to trust his work and his instincts,” said Clement. “When you’re moving around the diamond, you can get flooded with a lot of information and tips and all that. I told him at the end of the day to just go play ball and enjoy being out there.”
“Playing second is a lot easier than playing shortstop, physically,” said Kiner-Falefa, who has occupied short for the majority of his career. “Mentally, it’s a little different. There are some trickier hops but, for the most part, everything he’s done at shortstop you just gotta transfer it over.
“You saw the play he made tonight. He looked like a shortstop out there at second.”
The plan for Bichette in Game 2 is unclear. The club will monitor how his knee responds on Saturday morning, yet, for now at least, there’s a sense of a mission accomplished for Bichette.
“This is a tough ask,” said Schneider. “‘Hey, go play a position you haven’t played all year. It’s Game 1 of the World Series. Go do it.’
“He did it. Everyone’s grinding right now. But I’m so happy for him that he had the mindset coming in to just say, ‘Hey, I want to help, I want to fit in.’ And he did tonight.”
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