Bo Bichette to DH for Triple-A Bisons on Tuesday, could return to Blue Jays on Friday

Bo Bichette could make his return to the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend.

According to TSN’s Scott Mitchell, Bichette will begin a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on Tuesday. He’ll start as the designated hitter and is slated to play shortstop on Wednesday. If all goes well, Bichette could be activated from the Injured List ahead of Toronto’s weekend series in Cincinnati with the Reds.

Bichette hurt his knee running between first and second base during a loss to the Baltimore Orioles on July 31. The following day, the Blue Jays announced that there was no major structural damage to Bichette, but they also went out and acquired shortstop Paul DeJong from the St. Louis Cardinals, which indicated the injury wouldn’t be a day-to-day thing.

This is the first time since the 2020 season that Bichette has missed any time because of an injury. He appeared in 159 games in both 2021 and 2022 but was limited to 29 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season because of a knee injury.

Bichette has been Toronto’s best and most consistent hitter so far this season. His .321 batting average and .847 both lead the team and his 17 home runs are second only to Vladimir Gurerro Jr. with 18. This season has also been Bichette’s best defensively at short, as he’s cut his errors from 24 and 23 in 2021 and 2022 to just eight in 2023.

In Bichette’s absence, the Blue Jays have managed to remain above water with a 7-6 record, though the team’s offence has struggled without him at the top of the lineup. DeJong appeared in 11 of those 13 games and went 3-for-39 with zero walks and 14 strikeouts.

Buffalo’s game was rained out so Bichette’s rehab assignment will start on Wednesday with him playing shortstop, per Ben Nicholson-Smith.