{"id":553106,"date":"2026-03-22T11:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T11:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553106\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T11:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T11:17:09","slug":"blue-jays-bo-bichette-replacement-issues-apology-no-excuse-for-what-i-did","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/553106\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays\u2019 Bo Bichette Replacement Issues Apology: \u2018No Excuse For What I Did\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Blue Jays seemed prepared to lose franchise shortstop Bo Bichette this offseason, though moving on won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n

As the long-time sidekick to franchise slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bichette was a key part of the American League East winning offensive last year and he earned two All-Star nods and four seasons of Most Valuable Player Award votes during his career, mostly for his bat.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays did bring in star infielder Kazuma Okamoto to help bolster the lineup. But how their shift to Andres Gimenez as the everyday shortstop impacts their success is still an open question.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Blue Jays manager) John Schneider regularly describes Andres Gimenez as one of the best defensive infielders in baseball, if not the best, and validating that claim are the three Gold Gloves along with a Platinum Glove he\u2019s won for his work at second base,\u201d Shi Davidi wrote for Sportsnet<\/a>. \u201cThe challenge for the 27-year-old this season is maintaining that standard at shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays, who made him their replacement for Bo Bichette when the longtime star left for the New York Mets in free agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE FROM FORBESRed Sox\u2019s Alex Cora Sends Yankees\u2019 Anthony Volpe Message After Harsh SeasonBy Peter Chawaga<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 Andres Gimenez Faces Big Bo Bichette Question<\/p>\n

Given his defensive prowess, Gimenez seems likely to handle the fielding challenge well. But whether or not he can provide a shade of Bichette\u2019s offensive contributions is a bigger question.<\/p>\n

Gimenez slashed just .210\/.285\/.313 last year with only seven home runs. While nobody expects him to match Bichette as a hitter next season, an improvement on that production would go a long way in pushing the Blue Jays back to the World Series.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be pressure, with the departure of Bichette, to bring more offensive punch, closer to the 17 home runs he put up in 2022,\u201d The Toronto Star\u2019s Rosie DiManno wrote of Gimenez\u2019s upcoming season<\/a>. \u201cThe Jays are looking for Gim\u00e9nez to unlock that power more consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE FROM FORBESFormer Padres Player Who Made Perfect Game History Against Cubs DiesBy Peter Chawaga<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Toronto Blue Jays Shortstop Andres Gimenez Makes \u2018No Excuse\u2019 For Harsh Season<\/p>\n

As he faces some growing expectations in Bichette\u2019s stead, Gimenez seems well aware that his offensive production from last season was not good enough. Speaking with DiManno, he noted that he was struggling through injury, which impacted his hitting, fielding and base running.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

But he was also clear that he wasn\u2019t making an excuse as he acknowledged his offensive shortcomings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no excuse for what I did last year offensively,\u201d Bichette\u2019s shortstop replacement told DiManno. \u201cI need to work on it. I am working on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Gimenez can post even a moderate improvement at the plate while bringing his Gold Glove caliber defense to Bichette\u2019s old position, many fans will be happy to forgive him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays seemed prepared to lose franchise shortstop Bo Bichette this offseason, though moving on won\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[41733,3960,1513,7203,49,48,133041,462,82,14248,214612,507,502],"class_list":["post-553106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-andres-gimenez","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-blue-jays","tag-bo-bichette","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-kazuma-okamoto","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-the-blue-jays","tag-the-new-york-mets","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-vladimir-guerrero-jr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553106","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=553106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}