Blue Jays: Bo Bichette has been driving force at the top of the lineup so far

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation
By Trevor Fitzpatrick | Last updated Apr 1, 2025 6:56 PM ET

Despite going 0-4 against the Washington Nationals on Monday, Bo Bichette’s swings as the Toronto Blue Jays’ leadoff hitter have looked fantastic. He enters today’s game against the Nationals with a .368 batting average and is tied for fifth across MLB in hits (7).

Even when he gets out, the majority of the time, the ball is smoked off of his bat. Two outs recorded during his 0-4 performance were hit nearly 100 mph right at a defender. He’s authoring a 93.6 MPH average exit velocity and has barrelled 11.1% of his hits out of the gate.

It’s contact like that which the team was in desperate need of all of last season when George Springer took the majority of leadoff hacks in 2024 but slashed a poor .220/.303/.371. Bichette was on the sidelines for a good chunk of the campaign, but even when he was healthy, he was struggling at the plate, putting up career lows across the board.

Bo Bichette, after the opening series, is tied for the MLB lead in hits (7)

Even more impressive? He didn’t strike out once all weekend!

It’s March 31st and he’s already in midseason form pic.twitter.com/iNOJmnaHWK

— Blue Jays Today (@TodayJays) March 31, 2025

Bichette’s great swings shouldn’t come as a surprise. This spring, he was one of Toronto’s best hitters, smashing four home runs on the back of a .373 average.

It’s safe to say that the shortstop’s comeback from his injury-riddled 2024 has gotten off to a fantastic start. His approach at the plate has always been solid albeit aggressive, but it’s something that fans can now visualize better with Baseball Savant’s 2025 tools, as Sportsnet producer Chris Black points out:

Love how this tool shows how the stance adjusts throughout a swing too…

Here's Bichette on a pre-2 strike HR…. pic.twitter.com/Ql8Fs6dTS4

— Chris Black (@DownToBlack) March 25, 2025

His “two-strike stride” has allowed him to excel in potentially elevated ‘out’ situations, as he’s only struck out twice so far this year with two strikes against him. With runners in scoring position, he’s put two hits on the board across three opportunities, generating one RBI. Whether or not Bichette can keep up this pace remains to be seen, but through this short sample size to start the year, he’s certainly looked more like his former All-Star self.

As of now, the majority of talks around the Jays who will become free agents after this season have been focused on Vladimir Guerrero Jr. While that’s with good cause, Bichette is also set to hit the market and play like this could drive his value to incredible heights.

Not only are great leadoff hitters always in demand around the league, but Bichette also plays a more premium position compared to Guerrero Jr. Perhaps in the coming months, extension talks will go public between the Jays and Bichette just as they did with Guerrero Jr.

This article first appeared on Bluejaysnation and was syndicated with permission.

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