Toronto Blue Jays All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette said he will return from a knee injury this weekend.
“I’ll be flying out to Cincinnati and should be in the lineup on Saturday,” Bichette said after hitting a home run and playing shortstop in a rehab game with Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday night.
More Blue Jays injury concerns were resolved Friday when right-hander Trevor Richards (neck) and center fielder Kevin Kiermaier (elbow) were activated from the injured list.
Bichette, 25, has been on the injured list since Aug. 2 with patellar tendinitis in his right knee.
“I checked all the boxes. Ran good, felt good moving around at short, swing felt good,” he said after going 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the Bisons’ 7-1 win against Rochester.
The two-time All-Star was leading the American League with a .321 batting average when he went on the IL.
Bichette still leads the AL with 144 hits and has 17 homers and 59 RBIs in 106 games.
In five seasons, Bichette is a career .302 hitter with 86 home runs and 298 RBIs in 499 games with the Blue Jays. He finished 11th in AL MVP voting last season and 12th in 2021.
To add Richards and Kiermaier to the active roster, Toronto optioned right-hander Jay Jackson and outfielder Nathan Lukes to Triple-A Buffalo.
Richards, 30, is 1-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 39 appearances (three starts) for the Blue Jays, while Kiermaier, 33, is batting .274 with five home runs and 27 RBIs in 95 games this season.
Jackson, 35, is 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA in 18 relief appearances with the Blue Jays this season, while Lukes, 29, was 5-for-25 with a triple in 28 games after making his major league debut on March 30.
Toronto continues its wild-card chase Friday night when it opens a three-game road series against the Reds.
–Field Level Media
