TORONTO — Bo Bichette was looking Friday for a punctuation mark on potentially the end of his Blue Jays tenure.
One win stood between the team and a World Series title. And then the star infielder could begin his free agency tour in style.
“It’s been an incredible journey,” Bichette said before the Blue Jays’ 3-1 loss to the Dodgers in Game 6 of the World Series at Rogers Centre. “I’ve obviously grown up here in so many different ways. It’s the only organization I know, but I’m not really looking at the past. I’ve got some pretty important stuff ahead of me right now.”
Bichette, who went 1-for-3 with a walk in Friday’s loss, returned to Toronto’s lineup for this series after missing six weeks with a left knee injury. Moved from shortstop to second base since his return, Bichette had contributed to a team that began play within one victory of the franchise’s first title since 1993. He entered the day with a .701 OPS over five games with three RBIs.
It follows a regular season in which the 27-year-old son of former All-Star outfielder Dante Bichette posted a .311/.357/.483 slash line with 18 homers and 94 RBIs. He is considered the top shortstop headed to free agency.
Bichette easily could have sat out the World Series to protect his knee, but in the end he couldn’t fathom the idea of missing this chance.
“I had a lot of people telling me to take care of myself, for sure,” Bichette said. “Even I had that mindset a little bit, but to have an opportunity to play in this series is a no-brainer.”
Blue Jays manager John Schneider has appreciated Bichette’s return to the lineup, as much for the player’s benefit as the team’s.
“It was hard for him mentally and physically for a couple of weeks, kind of down toward the end of the year into the first couple of rounds [of playoffs],” Schneider said. “His mental toughness really came through. He’s been such a grown up a lot this year in terms of what he wants to do, how he wants to do it and who he wants to be in the clubhouse. I am just thrilled for him that he was able to get back and be on this stage and contribute the way he has.”
Bichette paid respect to bench coach Don Mattingly, who this season got to the World Series for the first time in 36 years wearing a major league uniform.
“He brings a ton of knowledge, experience, a drive to win,” Bichette said. “I think this means as much to him as anybody in that clubhouse, being in this moment, having an opportunity to win a World Series. And then when you talk about calm, he’s about as calm as it gets, and I think that rubs off on everybody, so he’s had a huge impact.”
Bichette has savored the opportunity in part because his dad never got to the World Series during a 14-year career with the Angels, Brewers, Rockies, Reds and Red Sox.
“Your whole career everybody’s telling you don’t take winning for granted,” Bichette said. “But you have to learn that for yourself. There’s been a lot of times where I thought we would win and we didn’t. So to be here and to learn from past seasons, it’s special to be here. It’s something I’ll never take for granted.
“Also, I will look around the clubhouse and see what we did right and I’ll learn as much as I can from what this group does on its field, off the field, and see if we can do it again.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
