Toronto Blue Jays’ shortstop Bo Bichette has been somewhat of a polarizing figure in the hierarchy of recent MLB superstars. He has always had the talent, demeanor, and pedigree of a player who stands out as being great, but at times, has faltered and underperformed. The son of four-time MLB All-Star Dante Bichette, Bo, like his Dad before him, can flat out rake. He offers a similarly aggressive, free-swing, but disciplined approach to hitting, every time he steps in the box.
Statistically, Bo’s numbers match well with Dante’s, particularly in season totals for hits, doubles, and in his ability to drive in runs, when it counts, with runners in scoring position. The one category where Bo has yet to reach his enormous potential, is the one that is considered the most sexy.
The home run, the “bomb”, the “nuke”, it would seem, is the most replayed and talked about feat in the sport. Every home run counts the same in a player’s stats and in the actual scorecard of the game. The modern audience though, is captured by the shock and awe of the distances and ultimate reach of some of these colossal shots. Fans, and writers alike might be quick to overlook Bichette as a true MLB star. As it would pertain to the current AL MVP race, the Blue Jays shortstop, at 5 ’11, and 190lb just doesn’t yet provide the same reels of moonshots landing in the third deck.
The current frontrunners, and odds-on favorites to take the AL MVP (Cal Raleigh, and Aaron Judge) are much more physically imposing. They give fans exactly what they crave in the way of nightly highlights of raw power. All the while, Bichette just continues to hit, at a higher clip than Seattle’s switch hitting catcher, and more consistently than the Yankee Captain. Bo leads MLB in hits, and doubles. He is also creeping up to, and will inevitably pass the elusive 100 RBI mark for the second time in his seven year MLB career.
Along with teammate, George Springer, he has helped to ignite the Blue Jays offence, following a long period of stagnant underachievement. At the very least, both Springer and Bichette should be prime candidates for the 2025 American League Comeback Player of the Year award. For Bo, that consolation prize, as he approaches free agency, with the Blue Jays sitting in first in the AL East, would not be as meaningful as it would be for Springer.
Bo wants to be included in the current two-horse MVP race. To accomplish this, he will need to catch fire in September, surpass Judge in the race for the American League batting crown, and get his home run total closer to the 25-mark. He is capable of that and more. So far, in two games in September, facing a juggernaut Cincinnati Reds pitching staff, Bo is hitting .500, with two home runs, and six RBI.
It would seem that the American League MVP race was declared strictly a two-horse race going back to mid-July. Since then, Bichette has a batting average that is roughly .100 points higher than Judge (.360 v. .260), and another world beyond that of Raleigh (.180). Bichette’s .OPS is also better than Raleigh’s during that span, and has crept close to that of Judge.
When factoring in these elements, it could be reasonable to suggest that Bichette is already on the cusp of consideration for the award. He plays shortstop, on the team that has defied all predictions and prognosticators by sitting atop the AL East standings, with playoff seedings getting closer by the day. The Blue Jays have built a winner, but at the core of that winning formula is Bo Bichette. At this rate, writers will be forced to take note of that fact.
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