2025 Bounce back candidate: Bo Bichette
While Blue Jays fans are focused on extensions for Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bo Bichette (myself included) maybe it's time to concentrate on what we have for the time being, or at least till a deal gets done.
Bo Bichette is eligible to hit the free agency next fall and, while it would be a natural time to explore a deal, his value is at an all-time low after he hit .225 with four home runs in an injury-plagued season.
Baseball Reference had him at a -0.3 WAR (down from 4.9). FanGraphs at 0.3 (down from 3.9), giving him a significantly lower value to the Blue Jays.
He had a .264 wOBA and a 71 wRC+.Bo's walk rate was 6.0% (up from 4.5% last year), and his strikeout rate was 19.0% (19.1 last year).
His line-drive rate was 22.1% (down from his 27.4 last year), ground ball rate was 47.8% (up from last year's 46.1) and fly-ball rate 30.1% (up from 26.5 last year). His fly balls were leaving the park 5.3% of the time (down from 16.5).
Bo's soft contact was up (18.1% from 13.6), and hard contact was down (30.5% from 36.0). His BABIP was way down (..269 from .355).
Bo was much better vs. RHP (.242/.296/.353) than LHP (.153/.194/.186). Last year he was much better against LHP, and the year before much better against RHP.
Bo hit better on the road (.246/.296/.317) than at home (.201/.255/.326).
With RISP, he hit .349/.408/.439, which is so much better than he hit the rest of the time. After two strikes, he hit .179/.245/.290
His longest hitting streak was 7 games, and his longest on-base streak 8 games.
Defensively he had 7 errors in 81 games at short, for a .971 FA (league average .972).
FanGraphs has him at a 1.8 UZR/150 and a +1 in Outs Above Average, both better than he has been in the past.
Prior to 2024 season and after the shortened 2020 season Bichette had a WAR of 4.9 and was a hitting machine with 191 hits in 2021, 189 hits in 2022 and 179 hits in 2023.
In the 4 seasons prior to his injury plagued 2024, he had 1,986 at bats which he churned out 596 hits, 112 doubles, 79 home runs with an OPS of .840.
If the 26 year old remains healthy in 2025 there is no reason why he won't return to his previous form.
If an extension doesn't materialize between now and then, l suspect it may be one of Bichette's best seasons yet.
Being a contract year he'll be playing his heart out to earn a big pay day with or without the Blue Jays.
If the Jays become sellers at the deadline in 2025 at least his value be back up to where it should be.
This fan is hopeful that Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr sign extensions so that this team can build around them sooner rather than later.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 29 | 258 ANSWERS 2025 Bounce back candidate: Bo Bichette Will Bo Bichette return to form? | ||
| Yes | 197 | 76.4 % |
| No | 61 | 23.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
