The Toronto Blue Jays are headed to the World Series for the first time since 1993, and Bo Bichette said on Monday night that he’ll be ready to go when the series kicks off on Friday. Bichette has been kept out of the postseason due to a knee injury, but he’s apparently on pace to be healthy and available for the Fall Classic. The question is, does Toronto have a place for him in the lineup?
MLB analyst and former player A. J. Pierzynski responded to the Bichette news on Monday night during a new episode of Foul Territory, suggesting that inserting a rusty Bichette into the lineup at this point might disrupt the Blue Jays’ mojo and do more harm than good as they look to upset the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
“You gonna DH him for (George) Springer?” Pierzynski asked rhetorically. “You gonna put him at shortstop — when he can’t move with his knee — ahead of (Andrés) Giménez, who’s been unbelievable at shortstop?”
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“You gonna take Ernie Clement out of the lineup right now, who’s on fire?”
“I mean, listen,” Pierzynski continued, “as much as I think Bo’s an awesome player … right now, I just think you say, ‘Look man, I’m sorry. We’re rolling with what we got.’”
Pierzynski’s fellow host on the program, Erik Kratz, saw things differently.
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“If (Bichette) is healthy, I gotta find a way to get him in the lineup,” Kratz said.
“I’m not saying I have the answer (about) where he (plays) … (but) if he’s (healthy enough to be) running bases at full speed, he’s out there. He might start at second. I might even make a poor choice and start him at shortstop.”
“You got to score runs,” Kratz continued. “The Dodgers are not going to give you free runs, so you got to take every one of them that you can get.”
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Bichette hit .311 with an .840 OPS during the regular season. He last played on September 6.
Featured image via Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports Images
