The Toronto Blue Jays are on a downward spiral at the end of the season. The team has added All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette to the disabled list (IL).
“An MRI revealed a quadriceps injury, so we’ve placed Beashett on the 10-day DL and optioned Triple-A infielder Mason McCoy to the big leagues,” the club announced on Tuesday. Bissett’s IL stint will be effective July 29. The injury is a quadriceps strain in his right thigh, according to the team.
Bichette left the game on Aug. 28 against the Cleveland Indians in the bottom of the fifth inning on a grounder to second base and was replaced by Espinal on defense in the top of the sixth inning. He reportedly pushed through a recent injury while running the bases.
It was his second trip to the IL this season. Bichette was placed on the DL on Nov. 2 with a right knee injury and returned on Nov. 20. He spent eight games on the DL.
Bichette is on pace for a career-high this season. In 114 games, he’s batting .314 (152-for-484) with 18 home runs, 62 RBIs, 54 runs scored, and an OPS of .831. He was on pace to break 200 hits if not for injury.
Bishop isn’t the only one. Third baseman Matt Chapman also went on the IL the same day with a broken finger. Chapman suffered numbness in his right middle finger while batting in the fourth inning in Cleveland. In 125 games, Chapman was batting .248 (113-for-455) with 15 home runs, 58 RBI, 61 runs scored, a 769 OPS, and a 4.0 bWAR.
Losing Bichette and Chapman at once exacerbated Toronto’s already uninspiring offense. It’s unclear if McCoy and Ernie Clement, who came up to the big leagues in their place, will be able to fill the void left by the two superstars.
As of the 29th, Toronto sits in the fourth AL wild card spot with a 72-60 record. They trail the third-place Houston Astros by 2.5 games. The day before Bichette made his first IL start, the Jays were 59-48 for the third wild-card spot, 2.5 games ahead of the fourth-place Boston Red Sox. Since then, the Jays have gone 13-12, largely due to a lack of offense. In August, Toronto ranks 11th in the AL in team batting average (.241), ninth in runs scored (109), tied for 10th in team home runs (31), and 10th in OPS (.714).
The season’s overall struggles can be traced back to the struggles of leadoff hitter Vladimir Guerrero Jr. In 128 games this season, Guerrero Jr. is batting .268 (133-for-497) with 20 home runs, 78 RBI, 61 runs scored, and a .783 OPS. Both his batting average and clutch ability are well below expectations. After a Triple Crown-caliber 2021 with a .311 batting average, 48 homers, and 111 RBIs, Guerrero Jr. dropped to a .274 batting average and 32 homers last year, and his explosiveness has diminished further this year.온라인바카
Toronto currently has the best starting rotation in the AL. With Hyun-jin Ryu returning, they have enough depth to run a six-man rotation. They’ve sent Alec Manoa down to the minors twice this year because of the stability of their starting five. Toronto’s team ERA of 3.71 is second only to the Seattle Mariners out of 30 teams. Their starting ERA (3.84) is fourth and their bullpen ERA (3.50) is fourth. Their total ERA is second.
Ryu will try to win his fourth straight game on September 2 against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, the graveyard of pitchers. The odds are not in favor of generous run support.