Blue Jays Takeaways: Chris Bassitt Injured vs White Sox

Chris Bassitt exited in the seventh inning with lower back tightness before the Blue Jays defeated the White Sox 5-2.

© Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

TORONTO — The Blue Jays defeated the White Sox 5-2 Monday in the first contest of a six-game homestand at Rogers Centre. 

Here's what you need to know from an eventful Toronto win.

Bassitt Exits With Lower Back Injury

Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt exited the seventh inning with "right lower back tightness," the Blue Jays announced. The 34-year-old bounced a pitch to the plate and immediately called to the dugout for a trainer. Bassitt didn't appear to be in very much pain, and he said, at this point, he expects to make his next start.

"I'm good," Bassitt said. "I'm not concerned about missing even a bullpen."

Although his back was bugging him throughout the outing, Bassitt didn't show it. He mixed in a bunch of sweeping curves, fiddled with hitters' timings, and hushed the White Sox bats through 6.1 innings. A two-run double by Andrew Vaughan in the third inning represented Bassitt's lone blemish. 

His back held up fine earlier that inning, too, when he made a great play on a bunt, fielding the ball on the third-base foul line and twisting himself to throw for an out at first.

Field 👏 Your 👏 Position 👏 @C_Bass419 pic.twitter.com/ABIGJ8DZT3

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 24, 2023

Bassitt will be re-evaluated tomorrow, per manager John Schneider. If, for any reason, the right-hander misses time, the Jays will have to dive deep for a spot start. Mitch White, who made a few starts last season, is still nursing an elbow injury and is not yet ready to return from the IL. Beyond that, the club will look to Triple-A for a spot start (Zach Thompson, Casey Lawrence, and Drew Hutchison come to mind).

Cavan Comes Clutch

Before Monday, Cavan Biggio was staring at an OPS below .400. He clearly hadn't settled in at the plate and wasn't likely to start the series opener until George Springer was given a day off. But give Biggio credit; he battled hard.

A B.I.G inning ✈️ @doinitBIGgio23 pic.twitter.com/6LrKc8PFLN

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 25, 2023

The bottom of the fourth inning presented a sparkling opportunity. With two men on, two outs, and the Jays trailing by one, Biggio fell behind 0-2 against Sox starter Lance Lynn. After a changeup scraped the dirt, Lynn tossed a cement-mixer breaking ball that Biggio absolutely crushed for a thunderous three-run, lead-changing homer.

"Confidence-builder," Schneider said, describing what that blast can do for Biggio going forward. "He's worked in the right way and hasn't really gotten off to the start he wanted, but I've told him — I've told everyone — I'm never gonna stop believing in you guys."

The unlikely longball sailed over the right-field wall, bouncing around a few times in the standing section before nestling into a fan's plastic cup of beer. From there, the game's energy flipped. The laid-back crowd of 26,293 — Toronto's second-smallest showing of the year — perked up and cheered on its boys in blue. 

New CF Wall Works Both Ways

Apparently not only Kevin Kiermaier can rob balls over the new, shorter center-field wall. The dashing Blue Jays outfielder christened the wall with a run-saving snag during the home opener on April 11, but Toronto found out Monday that the park plays both ways.

Matt Chapman cranked a fly ball in the third inning — at 107.8 mph off the bat, the deep drive carried a .990 xBA, per Baseball Savant. Alas, even at 404 feet, it wasn't meant to be. Luis Robert, Chicago's athletic center fielder, set his feet and leaped up for the ball, snow-coning it with the last inch of his webbing. Robert seemed shocked he caught it but still raised his glove in the air to celebrate the web gem.