Bo Bichette’s season from hell took yet another turn for the worse in the hours leading up to Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the host Texas Rangers.
Everyone knew someone was amiss when Bichette was sporting a splint on his right middle finger mere hours after the Blue Jays announced their star-crossed starting shortstop was scratched from Wednesday’s lineup because of what was said to be a contusion.
It turns out Bichette has a fracture.
In other words, his long-awaited return from a calf strain lasted all of one game, during which Bichette failed to get a ball out of the infield in five at-bats but recorded two in-field hits, while striking out once and driving in one run in Toronto’s lopsided loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night.
And now Bichette’s season officially is over, putting an end to a thoroughly miserable campaign, one plagued by injury and marred by under-performance.
Bichette is under team control for only one more season.
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He’ll now enter an off-season where the former all-star will either be extended beyond 2025, if such a deal can get engineered, or perhaps even traded — which does not seem likely given his disappointing 2024 season.
There’s also the scenario where the Jays rehabilitate Bichette to his former elite status and see what they can extract when next year’s MLB trade deadline arrives.
Either way, there’s a definite cloud hovering over Bichette.
In the past few days, Daulton Varsho (rotator cuff) and Will Wagner (knee) each were shut down for the balance of the season, which has nine games remaining following Thursday’s matinee.
The Jays, whom many viewed as legitimate contenders in the AL East, got off to an aborted start way back in spring training when pitchers experienced arm issues.
During the course of the season, closer Jordan Romano was lost and the team’s one-time ace Alek Manoah was lost, not to mention all the many lost games.
The Jays entered their series finale at Globe Life Field with a 72-80 record after dropping the opener 13-8 followed by a 2-0 setback.
The Jays were able to call up Jonatan Clase in the wake of Bichette’s season-ending injury.
Clase is an intriguing prospect because he provides a speed element that sorely has been lacking.
The athletic Clase was acquired from Seattle as part of the deal that sent Yimi Garcia to the Mariners in the days leading up to the July 30 deadline.
The 22-year-old appeared in 19 games for the Mariners this season, but has spent the majority of his time at triple-A, either in Seattle’s system or with the Buffalo Bisons.