Bo Bichette is having the kind of start to the season that makes you want to crawl under a rock and hide.
The Toronto Blue Jays shortstop went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts against the New York Mets on Saturday, and the Citi Field crowd - never known for their mercy - let him have it. Loud, sustained boos every time he came to the plate.
His season line through three games? 1-for-14 (.071) with eight strikeouts. That's not a slump, that's a crisis.
But here's what I respect about Bichette: He's not making excuses.
"If anything, I thought it took too long," he said when asked about the boos. "I get it. I thought my at-bats were terrible, too."
That takes guts. That's accountability. That's a professional athlete owning his performance instead of hiding behind clichés about "just trying to help the team" or "the results will come."
But accountability doesn't change the fact that the Blue Jays need their star shortstop to figure this out fast. Toronto has playoff aspirations, and they can't afford to have Bichette looking lost at the plate for weeks while he tries to rediscover his swing.
The good news? It's only three games. The bad news? Every strikeout chips away at confidence, and confidence is everything for a hitter.
Bichette is a two-time All-Star who hit .298 with 20 homers last season. The talent is there. The question is whether he can quiet the noise - both external and internal - and get back to being the player we know he can be.
Three games don't define a career. But they can define a season if you let them.
That's what sports is all about, folks.
