Bo Bichette

Bo Joseph Bichette, born March 5, 1998, is a Brazilian-American infielder for the New York Mets. He previously played for the Toronto Blue Jays, who drafted him in the second round in 2016. He debuted in the majors in 2019, has been a two-time All-Star, and twice led the American League in hits. His father, Dante Bichette, was also an MLB player.

Bichette grew up in Orlando, Florida, the son of four-time All-Star Dante and Mariana Bichette, who is from Porto Alegre, Brazil. His maternal grandfather has Chinese ancestry, and he has an older brother, Dante Jr. He was named after Bo Jackson. Homeschooled through Laurel Springs School, he played baseball for Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a senior, he hit .569 with 13 home runs, earning Gatorade/USA Today Florida Player of the Year and Mr. Baseball honors. He committed to Arizona State University.

The Blue Jays selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft. He turned down about four other offers to sign with Toronto for a $1.1 million bonus on June 17. In the Gulf Coast League, he hit .431 over 18 games before a ruptured appendix sidelined him. He returned late in the season, finishing with a .427 average, four homers, and 36 RBIs in 22 games, and was named the league's All-Star shortstop. That offseason, he played for Brazil in the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier.

In 2017, he started with Class-A Lansing, where he was a Midwest League All-Star by June 7, leading the league in average, hits, runs, slugging, and OPS. After a 7-for-8 doubleheader on June 15, his average hit .400. He was named to the U.S. Futures Game roster and, on July 6, was promoted to Advanced-A Dunedin after being named Midwest League Player of the Month for June. He was later named the league's MVP, Prospect of the Year, and a Postseason All-Star, having hit .384/.448/.623 with 32 doubles, 10 homers, and 51 RBIs in 70 games for Lansing. At Dunedin, he hit .323 with four homers and 23 RBIs in 40 games. His combined .362 average led all minor league baseball, making him the first teenager to lead the minors in hitting since Gil Torres in 1963. MLB named him Toronto's Minor League Hitter of the Year on October 5.

In 2018, he played for Double-A New Hampshire, batting .286 with 95 runs, 43 doubles, seven triples, 11 homers, 74 RBIs, 48 walks, and 32 stolen bases over 131 games. He led the Eastern League in runs and doubles.

He began 2019 with Triple-A Buffalo but broke his left hand on April 22 after being hit by a pitch. The Blue Jays called him up on July 29, and that day he got his first major league hit, a single off Brad Keller. On July 31, he had three hits, including his first MLB home run. On August 6, he became the first player to record 10 extra-base hits in his first nine games.

He then tied Yadier Molina and Derrek Lee for the longest doubles streak in the live-ball era (eight games) and broke the Blue Jays' franchise record. Playing in Toronto for the first time on August 8, he extended the streak to nine games, setting an MLB record. He also set a record for extra-base hits in the first 11 games of a career (13) and was the first rookie since Ted Williams in 1939 to have nine straight games with an extra-base hit. Over that 11-game span, he had 20 hits, an 11-game hit streak, and a 1.316 OPS. He finished the season hitting .311 with 11 homers in 46 games.

In the shortened 2020 season, he batted .301 with five homers and 23 RBIs in 29 games. On July 4, 2021, he was named an All-Star for the first time, with a .290/.340/.529 slash line, 15 homers, and 54 RBIs at the time. He finished 2021 hitting .298/.343/.484 with 29 homers, 102 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases, leading the American League in hits.