Bichette to join 3 other Blue Jays at ASG

Bo Bichette is an All-Star, named Sunday as a reserve shortstop for the American League team after a strong start to the season in one of baseball’s best lineups.

Bichette joins three of his teammates in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernández, all of whom were named starters on Thursday. That group of three gave the Blue Jays more starters than any other Major League club.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be so fun watching Semien, Vladdy and Teo do their thing,” Bichette said. “It should be exciting, so hopefully we all go out there and do well.”

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At just 23 years old, Bichette has been a mainstay in the No. 2 spot of the Blue Jays’ lineup between Semien and Guerrero, which is a dream spot for a hitter. Bichette comes out of Toronto’s weekend series against the Rays hitting .290 with 15 home runs and an .819 OPS, and he leads the Majors with 68 runs scored.

The Blue Jays are coming off a series win over the Rays at home, moving them to 43-39. They’re still eight games back of the Red Sox, who sit atop the American League East, but their race against the Rays for the Wild Card will be one to watch over the second half of the season.

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“We’re really confident,” Bichette said. “I think we’ve done what we’ve done this year, and we haven’t clicked on the same cylinder all at once yet. We’ve had some moments in this series and this homestead, but we can definitely be better. We’re really confident. We know we’re better. We’ll just continue to work hard, play hard and see what happens.”

This All-Star nod also sends Bichette back to Coors Field in Colorado where his father, Dante, starred for seven seasons. A member of the “Blake Street Bombers” alongside Andres Galarraga, Larry Walker, Ellis Burks and Vinny Castilla, the elder Bichette hit 201 home runs over those seven seasons, including a 40-homer season in 1995. With one All-Star Game under his belt now, Bo has three to go to tie Dante for the family lead.

Bichette is joined at shortstop by Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, who was voted as the AL starter, and Carlos Correa of the Astros.

Bichette’s consistency at the plate this season has been impressive, even as he has battled to find a groove at times. His extremely aggressive plate approach could lead to peaks and valleys, but his exceptional bat speed allows him to reach any pitch.

Four Blue Jays batters being named to the All-Star Game demonstrates just how strong this lineup has been, and that doesn’t even include George Springer, the other member of the lineup’s top five who may have been an All-Star himself if he’d been healthy. It’s also a compliment to Toronto's infield, with three of four regulars being named, including the middle-infield duo of Bichette and Semien.

When the veteran Semien bet on himself by signing a one-year, $18 million deal with the Blue Jays, there was some initial surprise because he has long been a shortstop. Semien embraced the move to second base, though, in part due to the young Bichette.

“One of the things that excited us the most when we thought we had the real potential to sign him and thought he was authentically and genuinely considering this alternative was when he started to talk about Bo,” general manager Ross Atkins said recently. “His faith in Bo and his belief in this young team and ways that he thought he could help Bo at shortstop. That just speaks to the person he is.”