The New York Yankees will not see the Toronto Blue Jays’ star shortstop Bo Bichette in the 2025 American League Divisional Series, which begins on Saturday evening up north.
The 27-year-old has been out since Sept. 6 with a left-knee sprain, but has come far enough along where manager John Schneider admitted on Friday that his presence on the ALDS roster could come “right down to the wire.”
Bichette is coming off one of his finest years as a pro, batting .311 with an .840 OPS, 18 home runs, and 94 RBI. Despite playing in only 139 games, he still ranked second in the American League with 181 hits behind only Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.
Alongside superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bichette is a foundational piece of a Blue Jays team that won the American League East via a tiebreaker over the Yankees behind a 94-68 record. This was the first time since 2015 that Toronto won the division, and it earned them the No. 1 overall seed in the American League this postseason.
Bichette’s absence is the second notable opposing star in as many series that the Yankees get the benefit of avoiding. Boston Red Sox top prospect Roman Anthony was unavailable for the Wild Card Series due to an oblique injury. The Bronx Bombers became the first team in this current format to come back from an 0-1 deficit to win the best-of-three series, doing so on Thursday night behind the brilliance of Cam Schlittler.
First pitch for Game 1 of the ALDS is scheduled for 4:08 p.m. ET, with Luis Gil getting the ball for New York against Toronto’s Kevin Guasman.
