Bo Joseph Bichette (born March 5, 1998) is a Brazilian-American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019. Bichette is a two-time

MLB All-Star The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) and contested between the all-stars from the American League (AL) and National ...

and twice led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

. His father,

Dante Bichette Alphonse Dante Bichette Sr. (; born November 18, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the California Angels (1988–1990), Milwaukee Brewers (1991–1992), Colorad ...

, also played in MLB.

High school

Bichette was

home school Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

ed, but competed in baseball for Lakewood High School in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. As a senior, he batted .569 with 13

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, and was named the Gatorade/USA Today Florida Player of the Year and Florida's Mr. Baseball. Bichette committed to attend

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

Career

Minor leagues

The

selected Bichette in the second round, with the 66th overall selection, of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks were distributed for players who ...

. He said afterward that he turned down "about four offers" during the draft in order to go to Toronto. He signed there for a $1.1 million bonus on June 17. After opening the season with a .431 batting average through 18 games with the

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays its ...

, Bichette was placed on the 7-day injured list after experiencing an injury to his midsection, which was later determined to be a ruptured

appendix Appendix (: appendices or appendixes) may refer to: __NOTOC__ In documents * Addendum, an addition made to a document by its author after its initial printing or publication * Bibliography, a systematic list of books and other works * Index (publis ...

. He returned to the lineup shortly before the end of the season, and finished the year with a .427 batting average, four home runs, and 36

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI) in 22 games. Despite missing more than half of the season with injury, Bichette was named the Gulf Coast League's end-of-season All-Star at shortstop on September 13. During the offseason, he represented

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

at the

2017 World Baseball Classic – Qualifier 4 Qualifier 4 of the 2017 World Baseball Classic – Qualification, Qualifying Round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic was held at MCU Park, Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States from September 22 to 25, 2016. It was won by Team Isra ...

. Bichette was assigned to the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

to begin the 2017 season. On June 7, he was named a

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

All-Star. To that point in the season, Bichette led the league in batting average,

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

, and on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Bichette raised his batting average to an even .400 after a 7-for-8 performance in a doubleheader against the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team w ...

on June 15. On June 29, he was named to the U.S. roster for the 2017 All-Star Futures Game. On July 6, Bichette was named the Midwest League Player of the Month for June. Later that day, the Blue Jays announced he would be promoted to the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

after the All-Star Futures Game. Bichette was named the Midwest League's Most Valuable Player (MVP), Prospect of the Year, and a Postseason All-Star on August 18 after hitting .384/.448/.623 with 32 doubles (2nd in the Midwest League), 10 home runs, and 51 RBIs in 70 games for Lansing. For Dunedin, Bichette appeared in 40 games and hit .323 with four home runs, 23 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. His combined .362 batting average led all of

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, and made him the first teenager to lead the minors in hitting since Gil Torres did so in 1963. On October 5, 2017, MLB named Bichette Toronto's Minor League Hitter of the Year. In 2018, he played for the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

. He appeared in 131 games and batted .286 with 95 runs (leading the Eastern League), 43 doubles (leading the league), 7 triples (tied for the league lead), 11 home runs, 74 RBIs (tied for 3rd), 48 walks (9th), and 32 stolen bases (2nd). Bichette began the 2019 season with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

. On April 22, he was hit on the left hand by a pitch and later diagnosed with a broken hand.

Toronto Blue Jays

2019 season

On July 29, 2019, the Blue Jays selected Bichette's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. On that day, he recorded his first major league hit, a single against Brad Keller of the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, on the second major league pitch he saw. On July 31, Bichette recorded three hits against the Royals, the second of which was his first MLB home run. On August 6, Bichette became the first MLB player to hit 10 extra base hits in his first nine major league games with a double against the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

. After hitting another

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

on August 7, Bichette joined

Yadier Molina Yadier Benjamín Molina (; born July 13, 1982) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former catcher who is the manager of the Águilas Cibaeñas of the Dominican Professional Baseball League. He played his entir ...

and

Derrek Lee Derrek Leon Lee (born September 6, 1975), nicknamed "D-Lee", is an American former professional baseball first baseman. Lee played with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates ...

as the only players in the

live-ball era The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball since 1920. It contrasts with the pre-1920 period known as the " dead-ball era". The name "live-ball era" comes from the dramatic rise in offensive ...

to record a double in eight straight games and broke the Blue Jays franchise record set by Carlos Delgado in 2000. Playing in Toronto for the first time the following day, Bichette extended his doubles streak to nine games, setting a new MLB record. He also set a new MLB record in extra-base hits in the first 11 games of his career with 13. He is the first rookie with 9 straight games with extra-base hits since

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

in 1939. Bichette set franchise records with 20 hits and an 11-game hit streak with a 1.316 OPS during the 11-game span. He finished the season hitting .311 with 11 home runs in 46 games.

2020 season

Overall with the Jays during the Covid-shortened 2020 season, Bichette batted .301 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in 29 games.

2021 season

On July 4, 2021, Bichette was named an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

for the first time. At the time of his nomination, Bichette had a

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

of .290/.340/.529, with 15 home runs and 54 RBI. Bichette finished the 2021 season batting .298/.343/.484 with 29 home runs, 102 RBIs and 25 stolen bases. He led the American League with 191 hits, while defensively he led the league with 24 errors.

2022 season

On September 5, 2022, Bichette had a 3-home run game in a game against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. In doing so, he also made history with teammate

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Vladimir Guerrero Ramos Jr. (born March 16, 1999) is a Dominican-Canadian professional baseball first baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019, and he bats and throws right-handed. Guerrero ...

, in which they were the first pair of teammates to have a 3-home run game in the same season, and both have fathers who played in MLB. He finished the 2022 season with a .290/.333/.469

, 24 home runs, 93 RBI, and led the majors in foul balls hit, with 587.

2023 season

Bichette led the American League in hits in both 2021 and 2022, with 191 and 189, respectively. On April 14, 2023, he recorded the 500th hit of his MLB career in his 407th game, surpassing the previous franchise record held by Vernon Wells and Shannon Stewart, who needed 432 games to reach the milestone. In 2023, he batted .306/.339/.475, had 175 hits (4th in the AL), and led AL batters in line drive percentage (27.4%) and percentage of balls hit to the opposite field (40.6%).

2024 season

In 2024, Bichette batted .225/.227/.322, had 70 hits, 4 HRs, and 31 RBI.

2025 season

On May 31, 2025, Bichette recorded his 100th home run of his career against the

Athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, becoming the first Blue Jay shortstop to reach the milestone in franchise history.

International career

Bichette represented

in the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

World Baseball Classic Qualififers. Both Bichette and his brother Dante Bichette Jr. have played for Brazil in the WBC due to their mother Mariana being a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil. In May 2025, after Brazil quaified to the 2026 World Baseball Clasic, Bo has committed to join the team back again for the main tournament.

Batting style

Bichette is a power hitter and can generate great bat speed and power. According to Joe Siddall: "He does it by separating and delaying torso rotation after the foot hits the floor after leg kick, exposing his back plate surname and number, before uncoiling, with the bat at the same angle as his shoulders. When facing a strikeout or pay-off pitch (X-2 or 3-2), he replaces the leg kick with the left knee bowing inwards."

Personal life

Bichette is the son of four-time MLB All-Star outfielder

, and the younger brother of Dante Bichette Jr. He is named after

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football, football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-star#Sports, All-Star in Major professio ...

. He is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. Both Bo and his brother Dante Jr. have played for Brazil in the WBC due to their mother Mariana being a native of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Their maternal grandfather is of Chinese descent.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bichette, Bo 1998 births Living people American baseball players of Chinese descent American League All-Stars American expatriate baseball players in Canada American sportspeople of Brazilian descent American sportspeople of Chinese descent Baseball players from Orlando, Florida Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Lansing Lugnuts players Major League Baseball shortstops New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Toronto Blue Jays players