While it was a huge blow to the Blue Jays when Bo Bichette was injured on September 6th ahead of the stretch run, the team has found a way to be just one win away from a World Series title, and the silver linings to it all are becoming more obvious for the 7-year pro..

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that Bichette’s injury was a good thing.

The path to success for the Blue Jays has been more difficult without one of their best players, and that started with having to fend off the Yankees for the AL East division title over the season’s final weeks. That’s about the time that the Jays had to start playing playoff-calibre baseball, and they were dangerously close to losing their grip on the division, ultimately relying on a tie-breaker to give them the AL East crown as both teams finished 94-68.

From there, they had to power past Aaron Judge and the Bronx Bombers again in the ALDS, and then the extremely difficult task of sending the Seattle Mariners home for the year in the ALCS, which took every inning of a 7-game series to do.

Through it all, the Blue Jays just keep finding a way to get the job done, even after the injuries have become a more significant factor between Bichette’s limitations and now George Springer. They continue to adopt their “next man up” philosophy despite many pundits having written them off when they were down 2-0 against the Mariners, or even after their heartbreaking 18-inning loss in the World Series that saw the Dodgers take a 2-1 series lead.

I’ll even admit that I questioned whether Bichette’s absence in the first two rounds would be too much for them to overcome against the talented pitching staffs in New York and Seattle, but they managed to stay alive and even thrive long enough that he was able to return in time for the World Series.

The set of circumstances that Bichette and the Blue Jays have faced over the last month or two has likely provided a fair bit of perspective for both parties, and in the grand scheme of things, there are a handful of positive developments from it all.

With all due respect to Bichette,  I think it’s fair to say that defence isn’t the strength of his game.

I’ve spent several years defending the 2x All-Star’s validity as a shortstop, but there’s no denying what the numbers are telling us from 2025, before his injury. According to Baseball Savant’s Fielding Run Value Leaderboard for shortstops, Bichette finished dead last out of 71 players with a rating of -10. While most of the Blue Jays’ defence was above-average or even elite, before his injury, they had stuck with Bichette as the captain of the infield for a variety of reasons.

When he hit the IL in early September, John Schneider and the coaching staff saw their opportunity to make a position switch with Andres Gimenez that they may not have otherwise had.

The former Platinum Glove recipient and 3x Gold Glove winner is widely considered to be one of the very best defensive players in baseball, and those gifts were arguably somewhat wasted at second base over the last few years. Since he’s made the move to shortstop, the Blue Jays’ infield defence has been an even greater strength, and Gimenez’s contributions at one of the most important positions on the diamond have been nearly impossible to miss.

Bichette hasn’t been a realistic option at shortstop in the World Series because he’s clearly playing at less than 100%, and it’s hard to say if his body could handle the task at all. Replacing Gimenez at the position right now with a healthy Bichette probably isn’t something that Schneider and the coaching staff would or should do, so thankfully, there was no debate to be had there right now, and the defence is better for it in the immediate term.

Bichette may not be healthy enough to resume his position as the starting shortstop, but thanks to the success of the current configuration with this team, the 27-year-old may have found his way to his future position in an unlikely way.

There’s a solid argument to be made for a while that Bichette should make the transition to second base at some point sooner rather than later, but it’s something that he’s understandably met with resistance. That’s a normal thing from any big leaguer, especially since Bichette has been a shortstop for his entire MLB career. He’s also a pending free agent, and history tells us that shortstops are usually held to a higher value than second basemen, so you can’t blame him there either. He had made some appearances at second as a minor leaguer, but hadn’t played the position since 2019, before making his big league debut. As you more than likely know by now, that changed in Game 1 of the World Series when he returned from the injured list and appeared on the other side of the bag up the middle.

What I found particularly interesting was that it was Bo’s idea to make this set-up a possibility for Schneider and the coaching staff.

Bichette has been with the team down the stretch and throughout the playoffs, and he understands what an asset Gimenez has been in his absence. He’s also self-aware enough to know that his body isn’t at 100% right now, and it would be next to impossible for him to contribute at the same level. When you are on the cusp of a World Series title, there’s no time for pride to get in the way of what’s best for the team, and Bichette clearly understands that.

While I’m sure he and his camp would like to see this as a temporary solution, I don’t think it hurts that Bichette is getting a taste of this arrangement and seeing team success at the same time. For as long as he’s been a big leaguer, he has talked about winning being a top priority, and right now the Blue Jays are in a position that I’m sure he’s dreamed of for most of his life. That kind of success is usually addictive, and it could plant the kind of seeds that could eventually work in the Blue Jays’ favour when their homegrown star hits free agency in a few weeks.

I’m not saying that this experience will suddenly make Bichette want to move off of the only position he’s played as a big leaguer before this unique scenario. However, I don’t think it hurts at all to give him a first-hand experience of what that looks like. If it comes with a World Series ring, that can’t hurt either.

I can admit my bias here, but I’m not sure I have to after the way the Blue Jays have performed in 2025, and especially in the postseason. They had plenty of doubters when they got to work in Spring Training, including yours truly, but the vision that Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins have tried to build over the years is just one step away from reaching the ultimate goal.

If they can finish the job and win the World Series, will that help convince Bichette that he should re-sign in Toronto? Alternatively, would falling one win short make him want to come back to take care of unfinished business? Regardless, this magical playoff run has to have been a great reminder to Bichette and his camp that things are pretty good north of the border, and with the only MLB franchise he’s ever known. It remains to be seen how much that will impact his thinking in free agency, but if nothing else it’s a heck of a message to send at the end of his current contract.

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