Young stars put to the test
Playing full season is uncharted territory for Bichette, Guerrero
Tuesday’s Blue Jays game against the Chicago White Sox was the 123rd of the year for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., tying the most games the first baseman has played in a single professional season.
Bo Bichette’s appearance in the second night of a four-game series against Chicago was his 121st of this season, 10 fewer than he logged for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2018. The shortstop has long since dwarfed his previous bigleague high for games played in one year — 46 in 2019. He has played in 46 more games this season than in his previous two big-league seasons combined.
Both players are critical to Toronto’s success as the organization sits on the fringes of the playoff picture with 38 games to go. But as Guerrero and Bichette play in high-stakes games down the stretch, they are also learning about the grind that is a full year at the major-league level.
Between making their debuts during the 2019 season and playing in a pandemic-shortened year in 2020, neither Guerrero, 22, or Bichette, 23, have played a full MLB season. Doing so for the first time in the midst of a playoff race is a little tough, said Jays coach John Schneider, who managed both players in the minor leagues.
“I think they’re going through it a little bit, where it’s everyone kind of hits that stage at about 100 games and you’ve still got 62 more, and then you want to be in the post-season and it’s however many more,” Schneider said Tuesday.
That was clear in Monday’s 2-1 win over the White Sox, when a Guerrero line drive single to centre field cashed in Bichette to tie the game in the sixth inning. Guerrero celebrated just his third RBI in the past 13 games with such gumption you might have believed that one hit had secured Toronto its place in the playoffs. His relief at once again making a difference for his team was palpable.
Guerrero later admitted to feeling frustrated as he and his teammates have scuffled over the past two weeks.
Ensuring the team’s youngsters, many who have even less big-league experience than Guerrero and Bichette, have enough gas to go the distance this year involves a lot of discussion between the coaching staff, players, strength and conditioning coaches and trainers, Schneider said. It means scheduling practice and work properly, handling travel properly and learning on the fly.
“(The grind is) something that you have to learn and everybody’s different,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “Some people might not want to hit (batting practice) because they feel that they don’t need anymore and some people, they do.
They have to learn that on their own and that’s the beauty of watching your guys develop and see how they do it.”
The constant communication between players and staff helps deal with how the players are feeling mentally and physically, said Schneider, who credits Bichette and Guerrero for being able to work through any hurdles they may be facing. “They are very aware of how they’re feeling, what they’re doing, probably much more so than other younger guys.”
If any young players have the ability to shake off the weight of their first full grind, it’s those two, Schneider said.
“They always seem to come out on the good end of it so we’re hoping, the last (38) games, that continues to be the case.”
Guerrero speaks as though he is up for the challenge.
“We’ve got to win,” he said after Monday’s win. “We’ve got to come here every day, game by game, and do our thing and keep working hard, keep grinding and just go out there and try to win every game we can.”