Blue Jays Announce World Series Roster; Bo Bichette, Ty France To Return

[Leo Morgenstern]

The Toronto Blue Jays have officially released their 26-man roster for the World Series.

All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette, out since mid-September with a knee sprain, is finally back. Ty France, who hit the IL with left oblique inflammation later in September, has also been added to the roster after missing the ALDS and ALCS.

Bichette and France are replacing outfielder Joey Loperfido and right-hander Yariel Rodríguez. It's little surprise to see Loperfido cut; he was only added to the ALCS roster mid-series to replace Anthony Santander. The decision to effectively swap out Rodríguez with France is a little more interesting, since it means the Blue Jays will only have 12 pitchers at their disposal for the series. Of course, Rodríguez struggled badly in limited work in the ALCS, so it seems the Jays decided they'd rather have another right-handed bat than an extra, less-than-trustworthy arm.

Featured image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images.

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[Leo Morgenstern]

The big question remains: Where will Bichette play?

Seems like it could be a mix of DH, shortstop, and... second base? Giménez has been great at shortstop, and I get that second base might be slightly easier on Bichette's knee. But at the same time, having Bichette play what is essentially a brand-new position in the World Series would be a risky move. And I might think that his lack of experience at second could actually make it harder on his knee, not easier. I guess we'll see.

[Angrioter]

Ty France presence say "Bichette and Springer will play D" 

France will start tonight against Snell and them, pinch hitter against Dodgers lefties 

[ComeTogether]

Hope Bo is back to his form in short order.  Can really make the lineup super deep and dangerous 

 

 

[John_Havok]

9 minutes ago, Angrioter said:

Ty France presence say "Bichette and Springer will play D" 

France will start tonight against Snell and them, pinch hitter against Dodgers lefties 

Highly doubt France starts. He's a pinch hitter at most. He wont be replacing Vlad at any point during a game unless it's a blowout and you're just being ultra-cautious

[Laika]

1 hour ago, Angrioter said:

Ty France presence say "Bichette and Springer will play D" 

France will start tonight against Snell and them, pinch hitter against Dodgers lefties 

Would be v dumb to start France

I do want to see Davis Schneider out there 

They should just run the Fried defensive lineup, with Bo swapped for IKF

George Springer DH	4	2	2	1	1	0	5	.250	.400	.750	1.150	11	6	-0.026	0.31	0.012	-0.038	-0.23%	4.91	1.6	0	0	HR,2B
Davis Schneider LF	3	1	1	0	1	2	4	.333	.500	.333	.833	19	10	0.031	0.34	0.041	-0.011	0.28%	5.48	-0.3	1	0
Nathan Lukes RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.333	.333	.500	.833	6	4	-0.001	0.05	0.000	-0.001	-0.01%	0.80	-0.4	0	0
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B	5	2	3	4	0	0	5	.667	.600	1.333	1.933	15	10	0.110	0.49	0.110	0.000	0.99%	7.84	3.3	6	1	HR
Alejandro Kirk C	5	1	1	1	0	0	5	.333	.333	1.000	1.333	18	12	-0.065	0.64	0.021	-0.085	-0.58%	10.21	-0.9	15	0	GDP
Daulton Varsho CF	5	4	4	4	0	0	5	.750	.778	1.875	2.653	13	10	0.156	0.32	0.156	0.000	1.40%	5.06	4.6	0	0	2·HR,2·2B
Ernie Clement 3B	4	1	3	3	0	0	4	.429	.375	.857	1.232	9	8	0.141	0.38	0.141	0.000	1.27%	6.04	2.0	1	2	HR
Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	4	.000	.000	.000	.000	15	10	-0.024	0.23	0.000	-0.024	-0.21%	3.60	-0.9	0	0
Andrés Giménez SS	4	1	1	0	0	1	4	.375	.375	.500	.875	12	10	-0.006	0.16	0.007	-0.012	-0.06%	2.56	-0.3	1	1
Myles Straw RF-LF	3	1	0	0	1	1	4	.250	.400	.250	.650	18	10	0.001	0.14	0.010	-0.008	0.01%	2.32	0.2	2	0

[glory]

Giving a vetrin to John Schneider is extremely dangerous. Would much rather have Joey just because JS would never play him, whereas he might shoehorn France into plate appearances. Regardless, DH is either going to be Bo or Springer. Vlad is always going to be 1B. France is likely just a pinch hitter. 

[Pendleton]

For a brief moment I didn't see Schneider listed (I still look for him in the INF rather than OF) and thought they had swapped him out for France. I wouldn't have been on board with that, but don't hate seeing France in the mix. He just seems like the type of battle tested veteran who comes up with the big clutch pinch hit AB in October 

[John_Havok]

13 minutes ago, glory said:

Giving a vetrin to John Schneider is extremely dangerous. Would much rather have Joey just because JS would never play him, whereas he might shoehorn France into plate appearances. Regardless, DH is either going to be Bo or Springer. Vlad is always going to be 1B. France is likely just a pinch hitter. 

Yeah, I really don't think Schneider is planning on using France as anything but a pinch hitter. Dodgers have 4 lefty relievers at their disposal in Banda, Kershaw, Dreyer, Wrobleski so you can bet in any important situation later in games with Barger up, one of them is coming in to face him for sure and that's where France and/or Schneider will be used

[HomeRunHomer]

I don't know about you guys but during the first two series there was not a single time that I even thought about Ty France.

[Jayzfan79]

Bo is playing 2nd base.