{"id":244414,"date":"2025-10-27T23:12:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T23:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/244414\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T23:12:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T23:12:13","slug":"blue-jays-notes-bichette-scherzer-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/244414\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Notes: Bichette, Scherzer, Defense"},"content":{"rendered":"

After getting shut down offensively in Game 2 of the World Series, Toronto will get an important bat back in the lineup tonight. Bo Bichette<\/a> will draw the start at second base for Game 3, batting fourth. \u201c[He] felt good coming out of yesterday,\u201d manager John Schneider told reporters on Sunday, including David Singh of Sportsnet<\/a>. \u201cI think with each day that goes on, he\u2019ll probably get as close to normal as he can at this stage of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bichette made his long-awaited return in Game 1 after missing close to two months with a knee injury. He singled on a 3-0 pitch in his first at-bat. Bichette began Toronto\u2019s game-breaking sixth inning, drawing a walk against Blake Snell<\/a> to lead off the inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> replaced him on the bases and came around to score the go-ahead run. Toronto would go on to tag Snell and two relievers with nine runs in the frame.<\/p>\n

It was Kiner-Falefa, not Bichette, who drew the start at second base in Game 2. Bichette grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. He played a couple of innings in the field in relief of Kiner-Falefa. \u201cSeven weeks is a long layoff, so you don\u2019t want to just go back to 100 percent,\u201d Schneider told reporters, including Shi Davidi of Sportsnet<\/a>, regarding Bichette\u2019s usage.<\/p>\n

Bichette is playing second base for the first time at the professional level since 2019 at Triple-A. The early returns have been acceptable, as Bichette has handled the few chances he\u2019s had so far. Mitch Bannon of The Athletic reports that Toronto is adjusting their infield strategy to support him. The team is having shortstop Andres Gimenez and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. shade closer to Bichette to provide extra coverage. \u201cI think the positioning part of it plays a big component,\u201d Schneider told Bannon.<\/p>\n

Toronto hasn\u2019t had an error in either game of the World Series. They were a middling defense during the regular season, ranking 18th in fielding percentage. The Blue Jays had the 12th-most errors. Kiner-Falefa is known for his defensive ability and is capable of handling multiple infield positions. While he did go 5-for-15 in the ALCS, the utilityman is hitless so far against the Dodgers. Getting Bichette\u2019s bat in the mix will be a boost, especially after Yoshinobu Yamamoto silenced the lineup on Saturday. Kiner-Falefa is a candidate to replace Bichette on the bases or in the field in a late-game situation.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays will send Max Scherzer to the bump on Monday. Schneider is expecting the same intensity he showed in Game 4 of the ALCS. \u201cWonder how many coaches he\u2019ll knock over tonight,\u201d Schneider told reporters, including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. The fiery right-hander had a handful of animated moments during his last outing, a near-quality start against Seattle. Scherzer allowed two earned runs over 5 2\/3 innings to earn the win and knot the series at 2-2.<\/p>\n

Scherzer\u2019s appearance for Toronto tonight will make him the first player to pitch for four different teams in the World Series, per MLB. The 40-year-old also made Fall Classic starts for Detroit, Washington, and Texas, winning the title with the latter two teams.<\/p>\n

Scherzer came into the postseason in a rut, giving up 17 earned runs over 15 innings to close the regular season. He did not make the ALDS roster, with Schneider citing the matchup against the Yankees as the reason for the veteran\u2019s omission. Scherzer tossed a quality start in his lone appearance against the Dodgers this season, holding them to two earned runs over six innings in early September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After getting shut down offensively in Game 2 of the World Series, Toronto will get an important bat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[7203,49,48,28427,14575,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-244414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-bo-bichette","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-isiah-kiner-falefa","12":"tag-max-scherzer","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}