Last year, Bo Bichette helped the Blue Jays get to a World Series. Then he left in free agency. Now, from the looks of things, neither his new team nor his former team will be making the playoffs at all. The Mets are out of it, the Jays are a game or so behind but not looking great. Was this trip really necessary?
Let's look at Bo's numbers with the Mets this year. He's hitting .268 with 14 homers, 66 RBIs and 101 strikeouts. His atrocious defense has followed him from Toronto to New York, and now at third he's not really in his element, in addition to the shaky hitting numbers. It's not like this is the first flaw for Bo, his 2024 was kinda rough too, but in the first year of a new contract, he was expected to play a large role in the Mets' run, and despite not getting injured [unlike most of the rest of the team], he's made only a light impact. 1 win above replacement despite 550 at-bats. Reminds me a bit of how his dad's first year in Cincinnati went. Admittedly I don't think he's as bad of a fielder as Dante was, but it hasn't been doing him any favors.
And in a season where so many pieces have gotten injured, a lot has been on Bo, and he's only done so much. And now some of the guys who got injured are beginning to do the work anyway. Luis Robert hit two moonshots yesterday. Francisco Alvarez seems to be hitting again. Marcus Semien's been piling up cheesy power. Sean Manaea's had a bunch of decent starts. Even Kodai Senga seems to be working as a closing option somehow. But Bo seems to just be kind of there. I'm not saying that's how the whole contract will go, assuming he doesn't opt out [who am I kidding, he's toast]. But it's an uneven step for a career that seemed to be on a strong path just last year.
Yet I don't think things would have gone too differently had Bo stayed in Toronto. It's been a similar story- Guerrero, Kirk, Springer, Lukes and Sanchez have all spent time on the IL, and it's dulled the output tremendously. The difference is that the rare 500+ at-bat guy, Ernie Clement, is not only having a nice season but feels central to so much of the action. That's why he was the top vote-getter in the AL. He's a terrific contact hitter with nice defensive perks and everybody loves him. It's not as if the fans have given up on Vlad Jr., there's still room for him to improve given all the equity, but all wasn't exactly lost without Vlad's better numbers. This team still has a 25+ home run guy, even if it is Kazuma Okamoto admittedly slightly off his game from the usual averages.
But I feel like if Bo was on this team, he'd be doing the same thing, and it would be a 'what is going on with the Jays' year, cause he and Vlad would be struggling at the same time. And that's not good if you're the defending AL champions. Even if you have call-up stories like Brett Bateman and Charles McAdoo coming around, or Jose Soriano making the most of the deadline gambit, or the continued inevitability of Dylan Cease stealing the Cy Young out from under Cam Schlittler's fingertips, if the marquee guys aren't cutting it, there's an issue.
I'll give the Jays this- Alejandro Kirk has been making up for lost time, and he's on fire recently, with 7 homers, 28 RBIs and a .283 average in 55 games. Once again he feels like his old self, and while it's nice to have Brandon Valenzuela around for the security, Kirk is the #1 catching option for a reason, and can still be relied upon. In something of a lost year, even if there's still a chance of making the playoffs, that's at least a plus.
Who knows where Bo and the Jays will go next year. I see Bo making improvements and reclaiming the narrative on a team that isn't the Mets, and I see the Jays reforming and contending again. Who knows how accurate that read is though.
Coming Tomorrow- I never thought he'd end up as a fairly average power DH after how impressive he looked as a rookie, but I suppose this is how things are going.
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