Did Vlad Guerrero Jr. spill the beans on his buddy, Bo Bichette?

While Bichette’s slow and lingering recovery from a strained left knee continues to be a storyline as the start of the Blue Jays’ post-season nears, it seems increasingly unlikely that he will be ready to play in Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday.

His limited activity strongly hints at it and the muted optimism expressed by Bichette himself on Sunday, plus vague updates by team management, seems to confirm it.

And then there was Guerrero’s response on Wednesday when asked about the void of not having Bichette in the lineup.

“We miss him and he knows we miss him but that’s God’s plan,” Guerrero said at his locker in the Jays clubhouse prior to the first of two intra-squad games he plans to play prior to Saturday’s opener.

“I hope we win this series and he comes back for the next one.”

While manager John Schneider danced a little more artfully — saying from experience that he “would never put anything Bo” — he wasn’t exuding confidence, either.

“I can’t answer that on a per cent,” Schneider said when queried about the shortstop’s potential availability for the start of the playoffs. “We’ll know on Friday, that’s what it comes down to.

“I’ll never put anything past Bo with people saying he can’t do something and (him) proving them wrong. It’s a big couple of days for him. If he’s ready, we’ll obviously welcome him back with open arms.”

And if he’s not? Schneider echoed Guerrero’s thinking.

“That’s another thing you want to play for, to keep going and get him back hopefully in the next round.”

None of this is a surprise, of course. When Bichette hit the injured list in early September after that violent crash in a slide at home plate at Yankee Stadium, it hasn’t been good. He missed the final 20 games of the regular season and has only resumed light baseball activity in the past week or so.

“He’s doing more every day, hitting more, not running yet but we’ll start that soon,” Schneider said. “We’ll continue to see how he feels the next couple of days.”

General manager Ross Atkins’ assessment was blunt and to the point.

“He’s doing everything possible to be ready as soon as possible,” Atkins said. “We don’t have a date. It’s day-to-day and our staff is aligned with that.”