Bo Bichette impressed by young Blue Jays, aiming for strong finish

BOSTON — Soon after arriving at Fenway Park Tuesday afternoon, Bo Bichette got a little confused.

Within the tiny visitors’ clubhouse, muscle memory took him to the locker the clubhouse attendants usually set aside for him, only to see it belonged to someone else.

“Maybe they forgot about me,” he wondered. But a closer inspection of the clubhouse showed he hadn’t been forgotten — quite the opposite, in fact.

“I had a veteran locker,” Bichette said. “I was like, 'Whoa, this is weird.'”

In MLB clubhouses, a well-established hierarchy dictates who ends up with the desirable lockers — those with the most convenient locations and the most space — and who ends up crammed together beside the laundry bins. At historic Fenway Park, real estate is especially hard to come by. And although Bichette certainly didn’t request his placement between George Springer and an empty locker, he wasn’t complaining, either.

The placement says something about Bichette, now 26 and in his sixth big-league season, but it also reflects how much the Blue Jays have changed in the weeks since he was last around the team. Gone are many of the veterans who populated the roster before Bichette started rehabbing his right calf injury in Florida. In their place, a much younger team has emerged.

“It’s been really cool to see a lot of guys stepping up and showing what they can do. That's been fun to watch,” he said. “Honestly, my mindset is that whatever I can do to help, especially not playing right now, I'm here to do that if anybody needs me.”

Having rejoined the Blue Jays in Boston, Bichette plans to continue a running progression that will hopefully lead him to a rehab assignment and a return to the major leagues this season. Ideally, he’d return with at least a couple weeks to spare and look like the version of himself who’s ended up on MVP ballots each of the last three seasons.

"We miss him," said Jays manager John Schneider. "It's been weird without him because he's just been here for what feels like so long and right in the middle of what we're doing ... his role isn't going to change with us whenever he does get back. He's right in the middle of it, and we want him to just continue to be him."

Bichette worked out on the Fenway Park infield Tuesday afternoon and will stay with the team for its upcoming trip to Minnesota. He says he’s hitting regularly with “no issues at all” and running close to full speed right now, but has yet to run the bases or conquer the abrupt stops, starts and direction changes that will be necessary before a rehab stint can begin.

At the same time, Bichette is determined to be careful and deliberate, not because that’s what he wants to do — he’s wired to push himself and play as soon as possible — but because he’s intent on learning from what went wrong earlier in the season.

“You’re always going to look yourself in the mirror so you can do better,” Bichette said. “And there's definitely things I could have done better. I mean, obviously, the performance shows that. But yeah, the toughest thing for me really was the last injury.”

In early July, Bichette recalls being in a good place and feeling ready to have a strong second half. But the re-aggravation of his calf injury sent him back to the sidelines, frustrated.

“I felt confident about it and, really, there was never any doubts from me that I was going to figure it out and have the season that everybody expects me to have,” he said. “And so when that was taken away from me, that was a bit difficult at first, but I moved on pretty quick.”

In recent weeks, he’s been doing extensive rehab work in Florida alongside closer Jordan Romano, who’s also hoping to return to the majors this year. Soon enough, that process could pay off for Bichette, giving all involved a little clarity entering the off-season.

Where that leads, no one knows — not Bichette, not GM Ross Atkins, not anyone. It’s simply too early to say. A trade can’t be ruled out, but is by no means a certainty, either. The Blue Jays want to win in 2025, and it’s hard to improve by parting with a career .290 hitter who averages 4.6 wins above replacement per 162 games and is entering his age-27 season. There’s certainly a strong case to be made for keeping Bichette and building next year’s batting order around him and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Those questions are for another day, though. For now, it’s a matter of making progress bit by bit and getting ever closer to returning to the major leagues.

“Just trying to be as smart as I can be,” Bichette said. “But I’m happy with where it’s at right now.”