From Bo Bichette as Long-tailed Duck to Max Scherzer as Cedar Waxwing, Team USA skipper creatively assigns bird counterparts to Blue Jays stars

Bo Bichette (L), Max Scherzer (R) (Images from - Getty)
Bo Bichette (L), Max Scherzer (R) (Images from - Getty)

Having endured a difficult 2024 season, the Toronto Blue Jays have well and truly flipped the script this year. The two-time World Series champions lead the AL East by three games, with an 83-61 record.

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A major reason why the Blue Jays are such a formidable team this season is that their success hasn't been dependant on one or two superstars doing most of the heavy lifting. Instead, pretty much every single member of the squad has pitched in with important contributions.

Humorously comparing Toronto skipper John Schneider to a bird watcher during Wednesday's episode of MLB Central, Mark DeRosa, who's set to be the Team USA skipper at the 2026 WBC, likened some Blue Jays players to birds.

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"Let me fill you in on some of the most common birds you'd see on an off day in Toronto. We're going to start leadoff position, the Morning Dove. George Springer, fourth-higest OPS in MLB. How about the Long Tailed Duck? Bo Bichette's hitting .311, third among MLB qualifiers. Vladdy (Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) is the ultimate Blue Jay, becasue of the [$500M] deal. He's going to be there for the foreseeable future.
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"Black-and-White Warbler, check that out. Kind of reminded me of Alejandro Kirk. How about the Brown Creeper? Daulton Varsho. The Black-Capped Chickadee, we're going to give that to Shane Bieber. The Canada Goose, it seems like Jose Berrios. How about the Dark-Eyed Junco? Kevin Gausman's got a 2.59 ERA and a .179 opponents' average, over his last 9 starts. To close it out, there's a Cedar Waxwing. Max Scherzer, here we go now," DeRosa said
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"Overcoming adversity" together has strengthened Blue Jays stars Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s bond

Aged 27 and 26 respectively, and having made their big league debuts in the same year, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are quite close to each other.

As Bichette explained on Monday, the mutual respect and bond between the two stars is the best it's ever been, as a result of overcoming adversity by each other's side.

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"It's probably the strongest it's ever been (our friendship)," Bichette told Sportsnet on Monday.
"We both have struggled, and we both have handled it well from a personal relationship standpoint. There's even more respect now as human beings with how we've dealt with adverstity, and how we've overcome it."

Although the Blue Jays have enjoyed an excellent season, there's still work to do. With about three weeks of the regular season to go, the Blue Jays lead atop is only three games. Fans will back Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to continue leading by example and secure Toronto's first AL East title since 2015.

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Edited by Bhargav
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