Bo Joseph Bichette (born March 5, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB).

High school

Bichette was

home school Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

ed, but competed in baseball for Lakewood High School in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

. As a senior, he batted .569 with 13

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and was named the Gatorade/USA Today Florida Player of the Year and Florida's Mr. Baseball. Bichette committed to attend Arizona State University to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

The

selected Bichette in the second round, with the 66th overall selection, of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be di ...

. He stated afterward that he turned down four offers during the draft in order to go to Toronto, and signed for a $1.1 million bonus on June 17. After opening the season with a .431 batting average through 18 games with the

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays i ...

, Bichette was placed on the 7-day injured list after experiencing an injury to his midsection, which was later determined to be a ruptured appendix. He returned to the lineup shortly before the end of the season, and finished the year with a .427 batting average, four home runs, and 36

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI) in 22 games. Despite missing more than half of the season with injury, Bichette was named the Gulf Coast League's end-of-season All-Star at shortstop on September 13. During the offseason, he represented

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at the

2017 World Baseball Classic – Qualifier 4 Qualifier 4 of the Qualifying Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held at MCU Park, Brooklyn, New York, United States from September 22 to 25, 2016. It was won by Team Israel, which went on to play in the World Baseball Classic in March ...

. Bichette was assigned to the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field. The Midwest League came to Lans ...

to begin the 2017 season. On June 7, he was named a

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

All-Star. To that point in the season, Bichette led the league in batting average, hits, runs scored, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Bichette raised his batting average to an even .400 after a 7-for-8 performance in a doubleheader against the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was o ...

on June 15. On June 29, he was named to the U.S. roster for the 2017 All-Star Futures Game. On July 6, Bichette was named the Midwest League Player of the Month for June. Later that day, the Blue Jays announced he would be promoted to the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpar ...

after the All-Star Futures Game. Bichette was named the Midwest League's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Prospect of the Year, and a Postseason All-Star on August 18 after hitting .384/.448/.623 with 32 doubles (2nd in the Midwest League), 10 home runs, and 51 RBIs in 70 games for Lansing. For Dunedin, Bichette appeared in 40 games and hit .323 with four home runs, 23 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. His combined .362 batting average led all of Minor League Baseball, and made him the first teenager to lead the minors in hitting since Gil Torres did so in 1963. On October 5, 2017, MLB named Bichette Toronto's Minor League Hitter of the Year. In 2018, he played for the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seaso ...

. He appeared in 131 games and batted .286 with 95 runs (leading the Eastern League), 43 doubles (leading the league), 7 triples (tied for the league lead), 11 home runs, 74 RBIs (tied for 3rd), 48 walks (9th), and 32 stolen bases (2nd). Bichette began the 2019 season with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. On April 22, he was hit on the left hand by a pitch and later diagnosed with a broken hand.

Toronto Blue Jays

On July 29, 2019, the Blue Jays selected Bichette's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. On that day, he recorded his first major league hit, a single against Brad Keller of the Kansas City Royals, on just the second major league pitch he saw. On July 31, Bichette recorded three hits against the Royals, the second of which was his first MLB home run. On August 6, Bichette became the first ever MLB player to hit 10 extra base hits in his first nine major league games with a double against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. After hitting another

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

on August 7, Bichette joined

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982), nicknamed "Yadi", is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher who played his entire career with the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Widely considered one of the grea ...

and

Derrek Lee Derrek Leon Lee (born September 6, 1975), nicknamed "D-Lee", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Lee played with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates ...

as the only players in the

live-ball era The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in (and continuing to the present day), contrasting with the pre-1920 period known as the "dead-ball era". The name "live-ball era" comes ...

to record a double in eight-straight games, and broke the Blue Jays franchise record set by

Carlos Delgado Carlos Juan Delgado Hernández (born June 25, 1972) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball primarily as a first baseman, from 1993 to 2009, most prominently as a member of the Toronto ...

in 2000. Playing in Toronto for the first time the following day, Bichette extended his doubles streak to nine games, setting a new MLB record. He also set a new MLB record in extra base hits in the first 11 games of his career with 13. He is the first rookie with 9 straight games with extra base hits since

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1 ...

in 1939. Bichette set franchise records with 20 hits and an 11-game hit streak with 1.316 OPS during the 11-game span. He finished the season hitting .311 with 11 home runs in 46 games. Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Bichette batted .301 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in 29 games. On July 4, 2021, Bichette was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. At the time of his nomination, Bichette had a

slash line S sabermetrics :Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the SABR – the Society for American Baseball Research. The term was coined by Bill James, an ...

of .290/.340/.529 and had 15 home runs and 54 RBI. Bichette finished the 2021 season batting .298/.343/.484 with 29 home runs, 102 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. He led the American League with 191 hits, while defensively he led the league with 24 errors. On September 5, 2022, Bichette had a 3-home run game in a game against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

. In doing so, he also made history with teammate

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. (born March 16, 1999) is a Canadian-Dominican professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player and Hall of Famer ...

, in which they were the first pair of teammates to have a 3-home run game in the same season, and both have fathers play in the MLB. In 2022 he batted .290/.333/.469, and led the majors in foul balls hit, with 587.

Batting style

Bichette is a power hitter, and can generate great bat speed and power. According to

Joe Siddall Joseph Todd Siddall (born October 25, 1967) is a Canadian former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Montreal Expos, Florida Marlins, and Detroit Tigers. Professional career Siddall was signed by the M ...

: "He does it by separating and delaying torso rotation after the foot hits the floor after leg kick, exposing his back plate surname and number, before uncoiling, with the bat at the same angle as his shoulders. When facing a strikeout or pay-off pitch (X-2 or 3-2), he replaces the leg kick with the left knee bowing inwards."

Personal life

Bichette is the son of four-time MLB All-Star outfielder

Dante Bichette Alphonse Dante Bichette Sr. (; born November 18, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player, currently employed by the Toronto Blue Jays organization. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the California An ...

, and the younger brother of

Dante Bichette Jr. Alphonse Dante Bichette Jr. (born September 26, 1992) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and first baseman. He was drafted by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the first round of the 2011 MLB draft. Ea ...

He is named after

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

. He is a Christian. Both Bo and his brother Dante Jr. have played for Brazil in the WBC due to their mother Mariana being a native of

Porto Alegre, Brazil Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the twelfth most populous city in the country and the center of Brazil's fift ...

. Their maternal grandfather is of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

descent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bichette, Bo 1998 births Living people American League All-Stars American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sportspeople of Brazilian descent American sportspeople of Chinese descent Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Lansing Lugnuts players Major League Baseball shortstops New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Toronto Blue Jays players