SportsCage Major League Baseball analyst Arash Madani does not want Toronto Blue Jays fans to get their hopes up for star shortstop Bo Bichette playing in the American League Division Series.
"Bo Bichette will not play in the ALDS. Can we get that out of the way right now? The guy's walking around in a knee brace, he hasn't started running the bases yet, his baseball activities have been limited. I am baffled why everybody's afraid to say it," Madani said on the SportsCage. "They're humming and hawing around it, they won't have Bo and let's go with that."
Bichette has been sidelined since September 6 with a sprained left knee suffered on a play at home plate against the New York Yankees. He was put on the 10-day injured list the following day.
"When the news came out that he was going for a second opinion, that's when you knew things weren't going right," Madani explained. "The fact that he's now walking around gingerly in a knee brace and all he's doing is throwing on flat ground, basically, all he's doing is playing catch on the warning track during workouts, that's not good."
The two-time MLB all-star played in 139 regular season games for the Jays in 2025, he finished with a .311 batting average, tied second in the majors behind only Aaron Judge, 18 home runs, 94 runs batted in and 181 hits on 582 appearances at the plate.
Meanwhile, Madani provided a breakdown about how MLB teams set post-season rosters in the event of an injury and when a player could hypothetically return in the playoffs.
"You can make changes if somebody gets hurt like [Trey] Yesavage, [Kevin] Gausman gets hurt, whatever. If you take him off the DS roster, he then becomes ineligible to play in the Championship Series," Madani explained. "In the next round, he would be eligible to come back for the World Series if they get that far. The roster you set for that round is that round, that's the way the system works."
The Blue Jays won the American League East Division for the first time since 2015 with a 94-68 record, which gives Toronto home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs. The Jays take on the Yankees in the ALDS after New York beat the Boston Red Sox 4-0 in Game 3 to win the Wild Card Series. It's the first time the Blue Jays and Yankess will play against each other in the post-season.
"By the way, this is all in the advantage of the Blue Jays. The fact that this has gone three games, the fact that both teams [Boston and New York] had to go deep into their bullpens and work their relievers," Madani said. "The Blue Jays are open for a lot more. I get that Friday is an off day, but you still have to travel to Toronto. You're still going to have a workout in Toronto. This is definitely in Toronto's favour."
