Reds legend claims $33.6M Blue Jays star, not Vladimir Guerrero Jr., is "huge reason" for Toronto's top spot in American League

After a difficult 2024 season, the Toronto Blue Jays are well and truly back to their best in 2025. The two-time World Series champions currently occupy the top spot in the AL East.

Having signed a huge contract extension earlier this year, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been at the heart of much of the action for his team this season. However, Cincinnati Reds legend Sean Casey discussed on his YouTube channel on Friday that the contributions of Guerrero's teammate, Bo Bichette, should not go unnoticed.

"Bo Bichette, man, are you paying attention to what he's doing?" Casey asked (Timestamp: 12:25). "It's been incredible. Guerrero is having a nice year, but Bo Bichette, I think, is leading the league in hits. He's now hitting .300, with an .815 OPS, 16 bombs and 78 RBIs, dude. He's leading the Blue Jays in RBIs, too.

"Bo didn't have a great year last year. I think people kind of wrote him off. Toronto's in first place, and he's a big reason why. I'm excited for the Blue Jays. They're a fun team to watch. And right in the middle of all this awesomeness is Bo Bichette, hitting home runs, hitting for average, driving in runs and being the catalyst he's been."

Bo Bichette is playing out the last of his three-year, $33.6 million deal he signed before the 2023 season and is set to enter free agency this winter.

With the best record in the AL, the Blue Jays are well-placed to win their division for the first time since 2015

Struggling for consistency for the entirety of the 2024 season, the Toronto Blue Jays finished at the bottom of the AL East with a 74-88 record. As a result, there was plenty of doom and gloom among fans.

However, the Blue Jays have completely flipped the script this season. Right now, Toronto sits at the top of its division, boasting the best record in the AL and well on track to win the AL East for the first time since 2015. It's such a drastic turnaround, considering last season's showing.

Bo Bichette (L), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (R) - Source: Getty

Fans will hope the team stays consistent for the remainder of the season and brings Toronto its first World Series title of the 21st century.

About the author

Raghav Mehta is a baseball journalist at Sportskeeda awaiting results for a Bachelor's in Journalism from Delhi University. He enjoys highlighting the key battles between players at different stages of the game and analyzing the decisive moments upon which they hinge.

One of Raghav's favorite moments, which underscores this, was the Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout clash in the 2023 WBC, where two of baseball's best players faced off against each other in the 9th inning. With the score 3-2 to Japan, Shohei eventually got the strikeout, which was absolute cinema.

Raghav is a Baltimore Orioles fan and is enjoying watching such an exciting young team compete at the top in a very competitive division.

Raghav has loved watching sports for as long as he can remember and realized he was pretty decent at writing his thoughts down at around the age of 14. Combining the two meant he had something he would enjoy doing every day, and he had identified that well before going to college.

Aside from work, Raghav enjoys playing sports, working out and watching movies.

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Edited by Alvin Amansec