ARLINGTON -- Something about the Blue Jays felt incomplete without Bo Bichette. Something about Bo Bichette felt incomplete without baseball.

A few hours before Bichette went 2-for-5 with an RBI in the Blue Jays’ 13-8 loss to the Rangers -- his first big league game in nearly two months -- he sat in the visitors’ dugout at Globe Life Field and kept coming back to the same idea, over and over. The waning days of the 2024 season aren’t about dragging his average up a few points or finding the perfect swing again, they’re about getting back to being himself again.

“I would love to have some results, obviously, but I kind of feel like I’m ending on a high note already,” Bichette said before the Blue Jays' series opener against the Rangers. “I’m just super grateful to be able to play the game that I love. Really, my ultimate goal here is just to have fun playing and enjoy my time.”

Bichette’s season, like the Blue Jays’, went sideways early. He battled his game and battled injuries -- the two overlapping too often -- and what felt like it had the potential to be a career year back in spring quickly spiraled. Bichette has gone through some briefer rehabs in the past, but this one dragged on, bringing him back to the club’s complex in Dunedin, Fla., and eventually to Triple-A Buffalo.

It was an opportunity, as Bichette saw it, to step back and look himself in the mirror. In the daily blur of an MLB schedule, those opportunities don’t come around as often as you think.

When Bichette was asked what he saw in that mirror -- what he really wanted to put into action -- he came back to the same idea again. Then, at the end, he slipped in something unexpected.

“Being grateful; I’m living my dream here,” Bichette said. “There’s nothing in the world I’d rather be doing. I’ll just get back in that mode and obviously, through that, you don’t hit .200 for no reason.

“Probably the biggest thing is that I started listening to my dad again.”

Bichette’s father, Dante, worked with the club in an official capacity for parts of the 2020-22 seasons, often working with hitters on their mental approach more than their physical mechanics. It was an interesting dynamic at the time as Bo was still working to establish himself in the big leagues, famous last name and all.

At some point, it seems that relationship changed from a baseball standpoint, but the two have clearly been working together more closely.

“I think everybody gets to the moment where they want to know better than their parents. I probably got there,” Bichette said with a smirk. “It’s really about getting back to basics, the things he’s told me all my life. Being quiet and listening.”

Regardless of what’s going through Bichette’s mind and where it’s coming from, getting him back on the field for the final two weeks of the season is a step in the right direction. He, like his longtime partner in crime Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is entering his final year of club control with the Blue Jays in 2025. In a perfect world, both he and Vladdy grow old together in Toronto. In a realistic world, one or both won’t be here in ‘26. It’s time to make hay while the sun shines.

As the Blue Jays work to pivot and come back stronger in 2025, no player holds more power than Bichette to make that happen. Getting the fullest version of Bichette back, the one who can hit .300 and drive the ball, would change this lineup in an instant.

There’s a physical aspect to this, of course. Like Bichette says, you don’t hit .200 for no reason, but it’s clear that Bichette is benefitting from a mental shift early on this road back.

“Sometimes, it’s nice to be away, if that’s the right way to say it,” manager John Schneider said. “I think that it was him reflecting on his season and our season with him being a big part of our team, obviously. Our conversations have been along those same lines with how he can improve on the field, in the box, in the clubhouse, as a leader, all of that stuff. He’s been really good since he’s been back around us.”

The Blue Jays will take this slow, mixing in a couple of days off or DH days, but this is the start. Bichette is back where he’s wanted to be all along and is appreciating the spot he stands in more than ever.