Moved to No. 5 spot, Bichette willing to do 'whatever' to help offense

WASHINGTON -- Early Saturday, a songbird sang a prophecy.

A Blue Jays hitter, making the long walk down the hallway from their clubhouse in Washington to the batting cages, passed by manager John Schneider’s office midway through crooning a verse from “Down With The Sickness,” the 2000 hit by Disturbed that locker rooms won’t let die.

“Suddenly it changes, violently it changes,” they sang, dragging their bat behind them at Nationals Park.

In the hours that followed, the Blue Jays changed their lineup and dropped Bo Bichette to the No. 5 spot, which lasted five innings before he launched his helmet into the ground and was ejected for the first time in his big league career. Violently, in a 6-3 win, it changes.

This was necessary, though, an overdue pivot for an offense that needs something -- anything -- to get it going. Even Bichette agrees with the move. The numbers aren’t there, but Bichette is still one of the faces of this team, and that face stood in front of a locker long after the game was over, saying he’d do “whatever they want” to help this offense find itself again.

“I haven’t done anything, really, to produce, and we’ve struggled as a team, so I think it’s the right time to switch things up,” Bichette said. “If I have to be the one that goes down, then that’s fine with me.”

Bichette is batting just .202 with a .542 OPS, perhaps the worst stretch of his pro career. It’s been a stunning turn for one of baseball’s most gifted young hitters with a style all his own.

Bichette had already disagreed with some calls earlier in the game, twice bending over to remove his protective guards for what he thought was ball four, only to strap them back on after hearing the called strike. When this third strike was called, Bichette turned into Rob Gronkowski, spiking his helmet into the dirt.

“I thought it was a really good helmet toss for his first ejection,” Schneider said. “I thought it was a little early, to be honest with you. We’ve seen equipment violations before with ejections, and [homeplate umpire] Jonathan Parra’s thought was that it was a bit much. Kind of tough to argue that.”

In the grand scheme, the ejection doesn’t matter. By morning, we’ll forget who played the final four innings at shortstop for the Blue Jays. This is about the frustration Bichette feels and the reason behind it.

Bichette expected to be great, and why shouldn’t he? Not only does he have the talent, but he backs that up with a work ethic and dedication to his game that are rarely rivaled. That’s why this felt like the season Bichette could take a step from a great young player to one of the game’s best, which makes this all the more surprising.

The Blue Jays can find their way to wins without Bichette, and Saturday’s effort is a fine example. The first inning was Christmas morning and the Nationals played Santa, handing out enough gifts to allow the Blue Jays to score four runs. Then, after a long drought, Kevin Kiermaier launched a two-run home run in the eighth to give Toronto some insurance. It wasn’t beautiful, but it worked.

But sustained success requires Bichette, and a player of his caliber knows how important he is to this organization.

“He holds himself to such a high standard,” Schneider said before the game. “He’s frustrated. He hit the ball hard twice yesterday. I think he’s really getting better. When he’s getting his good swings off, he’s going to be fine. It’s hard when you’re not getting the results you want. I think Bo takes it especially hard because of his personality. I just want him to keep going. He has as good a track record as you can have.”

Bichette can be streaky, but this is something new. He’ll lean on the experience from past downturns, but “patient” is not a word that applies here.

“I wouldn’t say it gets any easier,” Bichette said. “Obviously, you saw me today, there’s frustration not just from my performance but how the team is performing, too. The only difference is that I’m not worried about it in the long term, but it doesn’t get any easier day to day.”

This will turn -- it has to -- but the Blue Jays need that day to come soon. Saturday’s changes, violent and disjointed at times, weren’t Plan A. The path back to that, and to a better Blue Jays team, still goes through Bichette.