Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette refining defence that could shape his potential free agency

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Bo Bichette wasn’t in his usual spot. Three hours before a Saturday contest against the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays shortstop would typically be on the infield dirt to face relentless groundballs hit by third-base coach Carlos Febles. But on this day, Febles leaned on his bat and enjoyed a rare moment of pregame rest.

“He wants to take groundballs every day,” Febles said of Bichette. “I’m the one to say no. Understanding he’s playing every day, he’s there every single day, you got to be smart with your body. You got to cut back sometime. Last year was a fight. This year, he understands it.”

Bichette’s pregame infield drills have been routine almost every day since arriving in the big leagues in 2019. Questions surrounding his defence have followed him since he was drafted — he “despises” the errors that plagued him in the minor leagues.

The 27-year-old shortstop has pulled back, marginally, on the pregame defensive drills as he tries to rebound from an injury-riddled 2024 season in which he hit just .225 with a career-worst .599 OPS. But improving in the field remains a priority. It’s that lingering defensive question that could define Bichette’s potential free agency.

Bo Bichette makes a throw from shortstop, where some rival executives consider his range and arm strength to be slightly below average. (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

This season, Bichette ranks as a 6th percentile defender, per Baseball Savant. He’s been worth minus-3 fielding runs, which would be his lowest mark since 2022. Neither his range nor his arm strength has graded near the league average, per Savant. Opposing teams might not see Bichette as a Gold Glove candidate, but they value his fielding more than the publicly available metrics.

Multiple rival officials describe Bichette’s defence as slightly below average — a 45-grade shortstop, in baseball terms. Talent evaluators agree Bichette is adept at making the plays he can get to, but it’s the lack of range that hurts his defensive ceiling. Bichette knows it, too, making expanding his range a top priority.

“I had range coming up,” Bichette said. “But I made a lot of errors. Then, I probably went the other way. I just tried to make plays. … This year, I would say that I’m making some improvements on how to get my range back, and I’ve made some good adjustments.”

Earlier this season, Bichette found he was crouching too low before the pitch. With a fixation on making the plays directly hit at him, Bichette learned his low stance cost him on groundballs at the fringe of his range. He’s crouching higher now and continues to work on angles to the ball during infield drills.

One of the biggest indicators of defensive range is pure foot speed. That’s a hard one to train and doesn’t improve with age. When Bichette broke into the big leagues as a 21-year-old, he ranked in the 83rd percentile, per Baseball Savant’s sprint speed (28.4 feet per second). Last year, as Bichette battled through multiple calf injuries, he sat in the 49th percentile (27.3). In 2025, Toronto’s shortstop is down to the 28th percentile (26.2).

That trend, on top of the offensive outlier that was Bichette’s 2024 season, is what makes the shortstop’s potential free agency this winter — or trade deadline market — so interesting. If the Blue Jays fail to extend Bichette, he’ll enter the market as a 27-year-old free agent with All-Star upside and three years with MVP votes.

But what is his defensive future? Bichette is likely to move off shortstop eventually, wherever he ends up this offseason. That move could come in three years or, for some teams, as soon as next season. It could come sooner if he’s traded.

There are certainly teams for which Bichette will be an obvious shortstop option, including the Blue Jays. The Milwaukee Brewers rank last in baseball with minus-1.5 wins above average from the position and have plenty of money coming off the books. The Atlanta Braves haven’t finished higher than 20th in shortstop wins above average since 2022. If you expand to teams that could use a second baseman, though, Bichette’s potential market opens even more.

“I know there are teams that have shortstops that wouldn’t move,” Bichette said. “But I’m just focused on what I can do right now to help my team win, whatever way I can.”

Getting back to his place as an offensive weapon is the biggest task for Bichette this season. After a brutal 2024, he has seen his elite contact return, his strikeout rate drop and his power begin to flash, with a streak-snapping home run on the weekend. If the Blue Jays shortstop can remind baseball he’s a threat at the plate, teams will find a place for him in the field. The question is where.

Game notes and injury news

The Blue Jays erased a four-run deficit to beat the Los Angeles Angels 8-5 on Thursday, fending off a sweep. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits, and seven Toronto batters reached base multiple times. Yariel Rodríguez and Chad Green also stepped in to spell Toronto’s top relievers, delivering three innings of shutout relief to secure the win. … After leaving Wednesday’s game with right quad tightness, Andrés Giménez underwent an MRI. The Blue Jays await results as they head to Seattle for a three-game set against the Mariners.

(Top photo: Mark Blinch / Getty Images)

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