TORONTO — The Blue Jays held out hope that Bo Bichette, a key cog in a potent lineup they rode to 94 wins and the American League East title, would progress enough to return from a knee sprain in time for the AL Division Series, but the shortstop was left off their roster ahead of Game 1 against the New York Yankees.
Toronto will also not carry veteran right-handed starters Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer among their 13 pitchers.
Bichette, 27, bounced back from an injury-plagued 2024 season to return to previous form in 2025, batting .311 with 18 home runs and an .840 OPS, before spraining his knee Sept. 6 sliding into home plate at Yankee Stadium. Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez split shortstop duties over the Blue Jays’ final 20 regular-season games.
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On Friday, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Bichette, a free agent after the season, still had to clear running tests and hit against velocity to be activated. Schneider said the team would not have Bichette on the roster in a limited role.
“I would say for him to be on, he’d have to play pretty regularly,” Schneider said. “Just with the way we deploy our guys, we don’t want to deviate too much from what we’ve been doing. So it’s not saving him for a Kirk Gibson at-bat once a game that may not come. He’d have to be pretty regular in some capacity.”
Bassitt ended the regular season on the injured list with back inflammation but was eligible to return for the ALDS. He hasn’t pitched since allowing three runs on eight hits in 4⅓ innings Sept. 18. Scherzer’s exclusion was seemingly a strategic choice after he posted a 5.19 ERA over 85 innings this season.
The Blue Jays will carry three other right-handed starters — Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and rookie Trey Yesavage — plus left-hander Eric Lauer, who recorded a 3.18 ERA across 15 starts and 13 relief appearances this season.
Gausman will start Game 1 on Saturday followed by Bieber in Game 2 on Sunday. Yesavage will start Game 2. Shane Bieber, the 2020 AL Cy Young winner with Cleveland, will start Game 3 at Yankee Stadium. The Blue Jays could opt for Lauer to start or a bullpen game in Game 4 if there is one.
Schneider said Saturday he preferred to start Yesavage at home and give Bieber the road start.
“With the way that we use Trey it keeps him available later in the series as well in any kind of role we need,” Schneider said.
The Yankees made just one change to their roster for the ALDS from the wild-card series: Luis Gil, who is starting Game 1, was added, while reliever Mark Leiter Jr. was excluded. Max Fried will start Game 2 for the Yankees while Carlos Rodon is expected to get the Game 3 start.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
