TORONTO — Bo Bichette is back in the Toronto Blue Jays lineup, but they'll be without catcher Danny Jansen for the rest of the regular season.

Bichette was reinstated from the Blue Jays' 10-day injured list and slotted back in at shortstop for tonight's game against the visiting Kansas City Royals.

The all-star has been out since Aug. 27 with a strained right quadriceps.

Jansen had surgery on his fractured right middle finger on Thursday and Toronto manager John Schneider says he'll be out until at least the post-season.

The Blue Jays have the third and final wild card berth in the American League, half a game up on the Texas Rangers.

Infielder Mason McCoy was optioned to the Blue Jays' triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y., in a corresponding move.

Bichette's .314 average leads Toronto and his 18 home runs are second most on the team.

"Huge addition at the top of the order. We all know what he can do," said Schneider of Bichette's return. "I think we're still going to have to ease him in a little bit in terms of just watching his workload the first handful of games.

"If it's a DH day or an off day even, we don't want to take a step back from this injury."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2023.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press