Toronto weighing spot for Bichette in ALCS roster

TORONTO -- Blue Jays manager John Schneider said on Saturday the team has not decided whether to carry shortstop Bo Bichette on its American League Championship Series roster.

Bichette has not played since spraining his left knee in a collision on Sept. 6. He ran for the first time on Wednesday, hit live pitching on Friday and ran the bases for the first time on Saturday. Game 1 against the Seattle Mariners is scheduled for Sunday night at Rogers Centre. The Blue Jays have until 10 a.m. Sunday to finalize their roster.

Schneider hinted that the club would not carry Bichette on the roster if he is not available to play immediately, though he opened the door to carrying Bichette if he's not available to play every day.

"I'm trying to weigh out, is [his availability] every day?" Schneider said. "Is it off the bench? Obviously you want his bat in the lineup. I think just kind of getting to the spot with him and getting his feedback, him being part of it, how much, if at all, he's going to be compromised. And if not, OK, and how that affects everyone else that we're going to try to use and deploy.

"To say everyday availability would be best-case scenario, yeah, that's pretty easy. But I think it's a weird time crunch with the series starting tomorrow and him having to check some boxes here today, too."

Toronto's offense did not falter without the 27-year-old Bichette in the ALDS. The Blue Jays scored 34 runs in the four games and pounded the New York Yankees pitching for 23 runs in the first two games at home. But Bichette was one of the team's three best hitters during the regular season.

A free agent this winter, Bichette rebounded from a dreadful, injury-plagued 2024 season in which he posted a .598 OPS in 81 games to his previous All-Star-level form in his platform year. He batted .311 -- tied for second in the AL -- with 18 home runs, 94 RBI and an .840 OPS in 139 games, though he was the worst defensive shortstop in the majors as measured by Outs Above Average and Defensive Runs Saved.

The surehanded Andres Gimenez, previously the team's starting second baseman, started at shortstop for the Blue Jays in their four-game ALDS win over Yankees. Utilityman Ernie Clement also played shortstop during the regular season after Bichette's injury.

One thing the Blue Jays know for sure is Kevin Gausman will start Game 1 for the second straight series opposite Mariners right-hander Bryce Miller. Schneider said Trey Yesavage (Game 2) and Shane Bieber (Game 3) will "most likely" follow Gausman as they did in the ALDS.

The Blue Jays carried 13 pitchers and position players in the ALDS and Schneider indicated they will do so again in the ALCS. The composition, however, could be different with Games 3, 4, and 5 scheduled for consecutive days in Seattle and five games in six days slated to conclude the seven-game series.

After carrying just three starters in the ALDS and deploying a bullpen game in Game 4, the Blue Jays could carry one of -- or both of -- Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt, who finished the season on the injured list with back inflammation, as another possible option for length. Both starters threw in a simulated game early in the week at Rogers Centre.

"They're both feeling good and are definitely ready and available," Schneider said. "Different format, obviously, seven games, three in a row, all that kind of stuff. Yeah, [I] could definitely see them being part of it."