Shortstop Bo Bichette, easily the Toronto Blue Jays' best player this season, was placed on the 10-day injury list after the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Sahlen Field with a right knee sprain.
Bichette was undergoing an MRI and the team was awaiting the results, manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters on his daily pregame Zoom call late Sunday morning. There wasn't a lot of clarity on the issue, other than Montoyo said Bichette hurt himself stretching.
Bichette, 22, was 1 for 2 with a strikeout and single in Saturday's game against Tampa Bay, which was suspended in the fourth inning. Montoyo said the shortstop said he was hurting after the game and there was no indication during play he needed to come out. The single extended Bichette's hitting streak to nine games, during which he's batting .444.
The Jays and Rays will resume play in the fourth inning Sunday at 1:07 p.m.
"He felt something last night so we're going through a series of tests right now," Montoyo said. "We found out after the game was over."
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Once the stats from the suspended game were added in, Bichette was batting .361 -- second in the American League -- with five homers and 21 RBIs. He's 9 for 16 in the first three-plus games in Sahlen Field and homered in the first three contests, extending his streak of games going deep to four in a row.
With an extra-base hit and an RBI in seven games until Saturday, Bichette is the first shortstop to accomplish that feat since RBIs became an official stat in 1920. He has 38 extra-base hits in his first 59 career games -- second all-time to Joe DiMaggio's 46 for the Yankees in 1936.
“I think we’re watching a star in the making,” Montoyo said after Friday's 12-4 win over the Rays, which saw Bichette smack a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning. “That’s what I’m watching. I love the potential. I love his intensity. For a young kid, he’s a leader. To do what he’s doing, it’s awesome. That’s what stars do.”
Bichette entered Sunday fifth in the American League in both slugging percentage (.678) and OPS (1.065). The players ahead of him in both categories are New York's Aaron Judge, Los Angeles' Mike Trout, Detroit's Jacoby Jones and Tampa Bay's Brandon Lowe.
Bichette went 5 for 5 in Wednesday's 14-11, 10-inning loss to Miami. Per STATS Inc., he became the first shortstop in the modern era to reach base six times, hit a homer, and steal two bases in the same game.
Bichette batted .275 with eight homers and 32 RBIs in 56 games last year for the Bisons, missing several weeks with a broken hand after he was hit by a pitch during an April game in Syracuse.
He got his first major-league call-up in July and burst on the scene with the Blue Jays, batting .311-11-21 in 46 games.
Bichette quickly became a dynamo for extra-base hits. He became the first player in history to have 10 in his first nine career games, set an MLB record with doubles in nine straight games and another mark for extra-base hits in his first 11 career games by piling up 13 of them.
Joe Panik took over for Bichette in today's opener, which the Rays won, 3-2. Santiago Espinal was recalled from the taxi squad for the nightcap.
Sunday's twin bill wraps up Toronto's opening homestand in Buffalo. The Blue Jays head to Baltimore for a three-game series starting Monday and then host the Philadelphia Phillies here for a makeup doubleheader Thursday afternoon at 1:05.
Bo Bichette (11) of the Toronto Blue Jays fields a groundball Wednesday night against the Miami Marlins.
