The Blue Jays announced Thursday that shortstop Bo Bichette suffered a fractured middle finger and has been placed on the 15-day injured list, ending his 2024 season. Bichette was scratched from yesterday’s lineup after suffering a hand injury during pregame fielding drills. Outfielder Jonatan Clase has been recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to take Bichette’s spot on the active roster.
The broken finger caps off a nightmare season for Bichette — one that’s seen the two-time All-Star weather a pair of IL stints due to calf strains that have severely hobbled him. Bichette only just returned from the injured list Tuesday and played in one game after a nearly two-month absence due to that ailing calf. He’ll close out the year with a wildly uncharacteristic .225/.277/.322 batting line and four homers — a far cry from the .299/.340/.487 batting line he carried into the 2024 campaign.
Bichette was the subject of trade rumblings early this summer, but Toronto GM Ross Atkins quickly shut down any real notion of selling low on his star shortstop when he said in mid-June that trading Bichette (or teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) “[didn’t] make any sense” for the Jays. While the Blue Jays ultimately operated as deadline sellers, they only moved players who’d have been up for free agency at the end of the current season.
All indications have been that Atkins & Co. want to retool the roster and take aim at a return to contending next season. Bichette, who recently voiced a strong desire to stay with the Jays, will presumably be a part of those efforts — although other teams around the league will likely at least inquire about the possibility of prying him loose from the only organization he’s known to this point in his career.
More to come.