NEW YORK -- Everybody exhale.
The biggest relief of the Blue Jays’ season came when Bo Bichette bounced out of the dugout and jogged onto the field after a long rain delay in Saturday afternoon's 3-1 loss at Yankee Stadium.
Just moments before the tarp was rolled out and with the rain already coming down, Bichette was waved home on a Nathan Lukes single in the top of the sixth, but a great throw from Yankees right fielder Cody Bellinger beat him there. As Austin Wells turned to make the tag, he and Bichette collided hard.
Bichette was in immediate pain and reached to grab the area of his left shin. The initial view of the collision suggested that Bichette’s injury was caused by the impact itself, not by twisting or rolling an ankle through the slide, and he immediately hobbled off the field while a teammate and team trainer tried to assist him. It looked scary at the time, but X-rays came back negative and Bichette has clearly avoided anything serious despite being “pretty cut up” on his left shin.
“[The training staff] wrapped it pretty good,” manager John Schneider said. “Again, I’m not a big fan of blood, so I let the trainers do their thing. It didn’t look great, but we’re at the point where if you can play, you can play. Bo understands that and everyone understands that. I don’t think it needed stitches or anything, but there was a lot going on.”
The play kept the score at 2-1 for the Yankees before the tarp was rushed onto the field and the rains picked up quickly, causing a one-hour, 46-minute delay.
It’s difficult to overstate just how important Bichette is to the Blue Jays and their postseason hopes. Now batting .311, Bichette trails only the A’s Jacob Wilson (.314) and the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (.322) for the American League batting title. He has hit 18 home runs, raised his OPS to .840 and has done it in all the right moments. If anyone on this roster looks primed for a dominant run down the stretch and into October, it’s Bichette.
Further updates on Bichette are expected from manager John Schneider following Saturday’s game.
Schneider said that the Blue Jays will evaluate Bichette again Sunday ahead of the series finale, but he’s expected to play after finishing Saturday’s game.