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USATSI

Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette is now 26 and entering his fourth full season as one of the centerpieces of the team. It appears he's ready to take on more of a leadership role and that includes being publicly vocal. Bichette and Blue Jays manager John Schneider said as much in interviews with the Toronto Sun. 

It started with Bichette speaking to his manager at the start of camp. 

"He relayed that quietly in years past and this year really took a step forward and said 'we need to be better.' It's not just players. It's everybody," Schneider said.

"We always as coaches think that and when players come in and are delivering that message, it's awesome."

Bichette also made it clear in an interview with the Toronto Sun. 

"That's the culture -- to show up every day and be ready to do whatever we can to win a game. And that culture is built over a period of time of people holding each other accountable to that standard and that culture.

"That's what we're working on now."

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"It was lacking, but not in a bad way," Bichette said of how accountable Jays players were at times previously. "I'm saying that if we want to win a World Series, it has to be better. You can take that however you want to take that.

"We've been decent. We made the playoffs. I don't think it's been bad. We just need to be better."

Schneider also fully backed Bichette in his interest in letting his teammates know his beliefs here. 

In all, it sounds like Bichette is ready to be the leader of the team, vocally, both privately in the clubhouse and in the public eye via the media this coming season. 

As a 25-year-old last season, Bichette made his second All-Star team and got down-ballot MVP support for his third straight year -- he's finished 12th, 11th and 16th, respectively. He hit .306/.339/.475 (123 OPS+) with 30 doubles, three triples, 20 homers, 73 RBI, 69 runs and 4.9 WAR in 135 games. 

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, have sort of stagnated. In 2020, they were 32-28 and made the expanded playoffs as an eight seed. They won 91 games in 2021 and missed the playoffs by one game. They followed that up with 92 wins and a wild-card berth in 2022 and then 89 wins and another wild-card spot in 2023. They've gone 0-6 in playoff games in this span. 

It could also be argued the Jays underachieved compared to their true talent level each of these last three seasons and it sounds like Bichette would be inclined to agree. 

As for this season, the Blue Jays have the look of a team that can be in the mix for the AL East title or one of the three wild-card spots, though it's an awfully tough division. Perhaps Bichette's leadership can light a fire under some of his teammates and they can overachieve, or at least live up to their full potential.