TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette sought a second opinion Monday on his injured knee and could initially return to the lineup at designated hitter.
Sidelined since Sept. 7 with a sprained left knee, Bichette was in Dallas on Monday afternoon getting examined by Dr. Dan Cooper. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said there was nothing new to report, and the appointment was simply part of the recovery process.
“It doesn’t change our thinking,” Schneider said before Monday night's 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 11 innings. “It gives him and us some clarity.”
Toronto (88-62) has the best record in the American League and a five-game lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees with 12 to play.
The 27-year-old Bichette, a two-time All-Star, was injured Sept. 6 on a play at home plate against the Yankees and landed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sept. 7.
The Blue Jays have stressed patience, but Schneider acknowledged Bichette could return at DH before he's ready to play defense.
“In a perfect world, if he can come back and play short, great,” Schneider said. “We’ll see how this goes. With how he’s moving, it seems to me that hitting will be a little bit in front of everything else. I think we’ll know more tomorrow or the next day, but if we can get his bat back, hell yeah, I’ll take that.”
Bichette was having a strong season before the injury, batting .311 with 18 home runs, 94 RBIs and an .840 OPS in 139 games. He leads the majors in hits (181) and doubles (44).
Bichette, who can become a free agent after the World Series this year, is the son of former major league slugger Dante Bichette.
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Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette follows through after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning of a baseball game Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette hits a three-run home run in the second inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Toronto Blue Jays' Bo Bichette (11) is helped off the field by Isiah Kiner-Falefa (7) after being tagged out at home during the sixth inning of a baseball game agains the New York Yankees, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
A federal appeals panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration jail, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist.
The three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the U.S. over his campus activism and criticism of Israel is unconstitutional.
But in its 2-1 decision, the panel ruled a federal judge in New Jersey didn’t have jurisdiction to decide the matter at this time. Federal law requires the case to fully move through the immigration courts first, before Khalil can challenge the decision, they wrote.
“That scheme ensures that petitioners get just one bite at the apple — not zero or two,” the panel wrote. “But it also means that some petitioners, like Khalil, will have to wait to seek relief for allegedly unlawful government conduct.”
Thursday’s decision marked a major win for the Trump administration’s sweeping campaign to detain and deport noncitizens who joined protests against Israel.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokesperson, called the ruling “a vindication of the rule of law.”
In a statement, she said the department will “work to enforce his lawful removal order” and encouraged Khalil to “self-deport now before he is arrested, deported, and never given a chance to return.”
It was not clear whether the government would seek to detain Khalil, a legal permanent resident, again while his legal challenges continue.
In a statement distributed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Khalil called the appeals ruling “deeply disappointing."
“The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability," he said. "I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected.”
Baher Azmy, one of Khalil's lawyers, said the ruling was “contrary to rulings of other federal courts."
“Our legal options are by no means concluded, and we will fight with every available avenue,” he said.
The ACLU said the Trump administration cannot lawfully re-detain Khalil until the order takes formal effect, which won't happen while he can still immediately appeal.
Khalil’s lawyers can request that the panel's decision be set aside and the matter reconsidered by a larger group of judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, or they can go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
An outspoken leader of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia, Khalil was arrested last March. He then spent three months detained in a Louisiana immigration jail, missing the birth of his first child.
Federal officials have accused Khalil of leading activities “aligned to Hamas,” though they have not presented evidence to support the claim and have not accused him of criminal conduct. They also accused Khalil, 31, of failing to disclose information on his green card application.
The government justified the arrest under a seldom-used statute that allows for the expulsion of noncitizens whose beliefs are deemed to pose a threat to U.S. foreign policy interests.
In June, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled that justification would likely be declared unconstitutional and ordered Khalil released.
President Donald Trump's administration appealed that ruling, arguing the deportation decision should fall to an immigration judge, rather than a federal court.
Khalil has dismissed the allegations as “baseless and ridiculous,” framing his arrest and detention as a “direct consequence of exercising my right to free speech as I advocated for a free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza.”
New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said on social media Thursday that Khalil should remain free.
“Last year’s arrest of Mahmoud Khalil was more than just a chilling act of political repression, it was an attack on all of our constitutional rights,” Mamdani wrote on X. “Now, as the crackdown on pro-Palestinian free speech continues, Mahmoud is being threatened with rearrest. Mahmoud is free — and must remain free.”
Judge Arianna Freeman dissented Thursday, writing that her colleagues were holding Khalil to the wrong legal standard. Khalil, she wrote, is raising “now-or-never claims” that can be handled at the district court level, even though his immigration case isn't complete.
Both judges who ruled against Khalil, Thomas Hardiman and Stephanos Bibas, were Republican appointees. President George W. Bush appointed Hardiman to the 3rd Circuit, while Trump appointed Bibas. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, appointed Freeman.
The two-judge majority rejected Freeman's worry that their decision would leave Khalil with no remedy for unconstitutional immigration detention, even if he later can appeal.
“But our legal system routinely forces petitioners — even those with meritorious claims — to wait to raise their arguments," the judges wrote.
The decision comes as an appeals board in the immigration court system weighs a previous order that found Khalil could be deported to Algeria, where he maintains citizenship through a distant relative, or Syria, where he was born in a refugee camp to a Palestinian family.
His attorneys have said he faces mortal danger if forced to return to either country.
Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.
FILE - Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil holds a news conference outside Federal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 in Philadelphia (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
