The Blue Jays are making a scary gamble with Bo Bichette

The champagne had hardly dried from the Toronto Blue Jays' post-ALCS victory celebration when Bo Bichette gave all of Canada something else to cheer about: After missing the final three weeks of the regular season and both of Toronto's postseason series due to a knee injury, the star infielder would be good to go for the start of the World Series. "I'll be ready," he told MLB Network's Jon Morosi as the bubbly flew around him.

But Bichette's return, while huge for the Blue Jays' lineup, also came with a nagging question: Just where would he play? Was he knee healthy enough to stand up to the rigors of shortstop? Should he be moved to a less strenuous position, or used as a DH against the Los Angeles Dodgers? We finally got our answer when Toronto released its starting nine for Game 1 on Friday night, with Andres Gimenez at short and Bichette starting at second base.

For those of you wondering how many times Bichette has played second base in the Majors, the answer is ... exactly zero. In fact, he's never played any position other than short, with 716 appearances at the 6 in his career and 31 as a designated hitter. Of course, the situation is a bit more nuanced than that, and there are certainly good reasons why John Schneider and the Jays made this decision. But they also better hope it doesn't backfire spectacularly.

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Second base is where Bo Bichette's belonged all along

While this may seem shocking, the truth is that it's a shift long in the making. Bichette was never great as a shortstop, and as he's aged and his athletic profile has shifted — he's gone from the 75th percentile in sprint speed in 2021 to the 21st this season — he's become a downright liability at one of the most important positions on the field. Bichette posted a fielding run value of -10 this year, per Statcast, dead last among 71 qualifying shortstops. His range was among the worst at the position, too.

You can imagine that coming back from a serious (and seriously painful) knee injury won't do anything to help those numbers. And given that Gimenez is one of the best middle infielders in the sport regardless of position, one who's capably held down short in Bichette's absence all October, it makes sense not to rock the boat too much or mess with what's been working. This is a way to get Bichette's bat in the lineup while trying not to compromise a Blue Jays defense that was the best in baseball during the regular season. Heck, they probably would've tried using him at DH, if it weren't for George Springer's knee injury in the ALCS leaving him iffy in the outfield.

Toronto likely can't win this series without Bichette's offense. But using him as the everyday shortstop was also a non-starter, even if his knee is close to fully recovered (which is still unknown at this point in time). This was the only real path forward for Jays brass — and yet, that doesn't make it any less a roll of the dice.

But is the World Series the time to take it for a test drive?

Bichette is a seasoned big-leaguer with years and years of infield experience under his belt; far be it from us to question his ability to adapt to a shift to the right side of the diamond. But this will also be his first time on the World Series stage, and he's doing it while likely still at something less than 100 percent. Amid that pressure cooker, Toronto is now asking him to adjust to new angles and new responsibilities on the fly. What could go wrong?

Again, none of which is to say that the Jays are making a mistake here; realistically, they're just playing the hand they've been dealt. It's still a gamble, though, one that comes with real downside risk given Bichette's already evident limitations as a fielder and how tricky it is to pick up a new position without a ton of reps. The ball gets on you differently, the throws are different, heck even reacting as a cut-off man is different. This is a whole new world for Bichette, and he has to do it at the highest degree of difficulty. Good luck.