ARLINGTON, Texas — With Bo Bichette’s increasingly hot stretch on the plate, the question everyone keeps asking of hitting coach Guillermo Martinez is what exactly does the Toronto Blue Jays’ star shortstop do differently.
Maybe change his attitude? Make a subtle adjustment to his swing? Maybe move his approach in the box? Is there an explanation for the sudden increase in its production?
“For me, the biggest thing I’ve seen is how much he competes in his own practice,” Martinez said, before Bichette ripped three more doubles, tapped in a run, scored and in an 11-7 romp over the Texas Rangers went on Saturday night.
“It allowed him to free his mind. If you can make practice a little harder, that carries over into games.”
For Bichette, it was a video game-like run on the plate. In nine games in September he’s now hitting .525/.558/1.175 with 18 RBIs and 13 runs scored, and if you trace it back to August 21, that line is .452/.471/.863 with 10 doubles, a triple, six homers, 20 RBIs and 17 runs scored.
“It’s crazy,” said interim manager John Schneider, and there’s not an ounce of exaggeration. “We know he’s good. And that’s the best version of Bo we’ve ever seen.”
That hot streak coincides with Bichette returning to a more aggressive practice technique he used intermittently last year, which included doing live batting drills against caged bats “to prepare his eyes and body for what’s coming in.” game,” Martinez said.
“We give him different counts,” the coach continued. “He’s calling out what he’s looking for and the batting coaches, even Tito (Hector Lebron, the club’s interpreter) will be throwing these soft dimpled balls so he can see an arm and more speed, more breaks.”
Hitters may be reluctant to use the high-speed hitting machines, especially before games, to avoid the risk of jamming or touching the end of the bat. Therefore, the Blue Jays use the dimple balls to soften the impact on a hitter’s hands.
These exercises on bats allowed Bichette to work through some problems on the plate “without worrying about the outcome,” he said, “seeing what works and what doesn’t” in a consequence-free environment.
That, in turn, allowed him “to get my opinion right,” he continued. “It’s probably not entirely playful, but it’s close. For me it’s just a matter of ticking boxes and realizing I don’t have to cheat to get to the heater today or I don’t have to be rushed with two strikes and just be confident that things have ticked boxes.”
Still, such intense training can be tiring, and depending on how one feels, a batsman may not always want to hit game-speed reps before stepping on the field. Bichette’s routine can fluctuate, although “I’ve been pretty consistent about what I’m doing lately. But sometimes it’s very simple, you just tee off and go play. And there are times when have more work. Things like that give me a little bit more confidence when I go into the game.”
Martinez recalls Bichette using it off and on last season as well, helping him go from a .636 OPS August to a .976 OPS September/October.
“It’s funny because every year is different and guys find different routines throughout the season and make adjustments over time,” Martinez explained. “He found something that will lock him in and he’s driving it right now.”
The Blue Jays do the same around him, improving to 8-1 on their 10-day road trip by scoring in double digits for the first time since a 10-3 win over St. Louis on July 26.
Alejandro Kirk’s two-run doubles and Santiago Espinal’s two-run singles opened scoring in the first tournament. After Espinal’s RBI double, Raimel Tapia’s triple homer and Bichette’s RBI double in the third, every hitter in the lineup crossed the plate in front of a weary 28,340 crowd.
All that offense came in handy on a night Kevin Gausman never seemed to find a rhythm. The Rangers got his pitch count up early, Adolis Garcia hit a three-run homer in the first homer that reduced the Blue Jays’ lead to 4-3, and after dodging traffic for the next four frames he gave one Two-run shot at Sam Huff on the sixth who ended his night.
Gausman admitted he wasn’t as smart as usual and made “many mistakes,” though only two were particularly costly. He was all the more grateful for the collective performance of the offense and once again amazed him at Bichette’s heroic deeds.
“From a pitching standpoint, where do you go, especially considering how hot he is right now?” he wondered. “You can see the confidence in him when he comes into the pits. He now expects to hit a double or a home run every time. You can see it on his face. And it’s really fun to watch every day.”
That he only lasted 5.1 innings wasn’t ideal, as the Blue Jays are planning a bullpen game on Sunday so they can pick Jose Berrios, who would be up for the finals, to open Monday’s series against the Tampa Bay Rays can push.
Zach Pop gave up a pair before escaping that sixth while Anthony Bass, Adam Cimber and Tim Mayza handled the final three frames with a little more leverage than the early innings suggested.
That leaves the Blue Jays with Trevor Richards starting the same as he did a week ago in Pittsburgh, Yusei Kikuchi, David Phelps and Julian Merryweather fresh for Sunday after not serving Globe Life Field at all, with Yimi Garcia and Jordan Romano rested after throwing Friday.
“We’re in a good position,” said Schneider. “All are mostly available.”
Another major accomplishment on the record would certainly come in handy and Bichette can certainly help drive it forward. Over the past three weeks he’s turned a solid season into a strong one, sweeping along a Blue Jays team that needed it.
“This game is really difficult, really tough and a lot of guys can break – a lot of people say it’s a game of failure and he’s not ready to fail,” Martinez said. “It’s the biggest thing for me when I see Bo. He’s not ready to fail. And while he’s not where he wants to be yet, he comes out and competes every day. He wants to be the best in the game and doesn’t give up. That’s the biggest thing.”
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