Blue Jays bats offer just enough as Bichette calls for ‘fearless’ baseball

Baseball

Published 19.08.2023

CINCINNATI — Maybe Elly De La Cruz was listening when Bo Bichette talked about taking part in fearless baseball.

Few gamers can match the mix of pace and audacity that De La Cruz displayed when he turned a triple off the correct area wall into just a little league dwelling run Saturday night time. The play was the MLB equal of returning a kickoff for a landing — 15.3 seconds of probably the most thrilling baseball you’ll see all yr — and it electrified the 38,461 watching at Great American Ballpark.

But let the Cincinnati Reds have the type factors, the Toronto Blue Jays acquired the win. With Bichette again within the lineup for the primary time in practically three weeks, the Blue Jays outscored the Reds 4-3 to win for the primary time since Tuesday and enhance to 68-56 on the season.

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Starter Chris Bassitt provided six efficient innings and Toronto’s bullpen did the remainder, however wonderful pitching has grow to be the norm for a Blue Jays staff that entered play with an MLB-best 3.68 ERA. More noteworthy was the offensive bounce-back after being shut out on three hits in Friday’s sequence opener.

Davis Schneider supplied the Blue Jays’ greatest swing of the night time with a solo dwelling run to left within the fifth inning, but it surely didn’t take lengthy for Bichette to contribute, both. He capped off a three-run rally within the fourth with a run-scoring single to centre area on a 1-2 change-up from Reds starter Brandon Williamson.

“We need to be fearless,” mentioned Bichette earlier than he went one for 5 in his return. “I don’t think any team accomplishes anything special by not being fearless, so I think we just need to be fearless. Go out there, play our game, be aggressive and get after it. That’s how I want to lead and that’s how I’ll try to lead by example now that I’m back.”

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With that single to centre, Bichette matched the RBI complete for all Blue Jays shortstops throughout his absence. While Bichette recovered from patellar tendonitis in his proper knee, Toronto’s shortstops mixed to hit simply .089/.089/.111 with 18 strikeouts and -0.8 WAR.

Put merely, the very situation the Blue Jays hoped Paul DeJong would assist stop ended up unfolding proper earlier than their eyes: they acquired zero offence from their shortstops. By designating DeJong for project Saturday, they ate about $1 million in wage, shifting on from a deal that merely didn’t work out.

Still, their points on the plate transcend shortstop. As a staff, the Blue Jays entered play hitting simply .238/.318/.367 in August, good for the Twenty first-best wRC+ in baseball proper behind the A’s and Pirates. So whereas the likes of Brandon Belt and Cavan Biggio have been productive currently, the Blue Jays want extra from gamers together with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Matt Chapman and Alejandro Kirk.

That’s very true at a time that George Springer (ankle) and Danny Jansen (hand) are everyday. But with Bichette again within the lineup and Schneider offering the occasional spark, the Blue Jays might at the least get by Saturday.

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Not to be neglected, Toronto’s pitching is conserving them aggressive. Relievers Trevor Richards, Tim Mayza, Jordan Hicks and Jordan Romano all acquired high-leverage outs for the Blue Jays, culminating in a late rally Romano shut down on the final minute, but it surely was Bassitt who acquired issues began together with his sixteenth high quality begin of the season.

The method the Seattle Mariners are taking part in, the Blue Jays can’t afford to decelerate when the sequence wraps up Sunday. But as Bichette says, it is likely to be time for a shift in mindset. Somewhat counter-intuitively, a looser type of play might pay dividends when the standings are this tight.

“At this point in the year every team is a tough team to beat,” Bichette mentioned. “Even the teams that aren’t in it anymore want to spoil it for the teams that are in it. They’re big-league players over there. If we want to accomplish anything, we’ve got to go out and give it everything we got. I’m not worrying about what could go wrong, but focusing on what could go right. That’s where we need to be, and I think I think we definitely have to have the ability to do that.”