Blue Jays: How Cavan Biggio can transform the lineup

While the departure of Marcus Semien has left a void in the Blue Jays lineup, Cavan Biggio has the potential the step up and transform the offence.

The Blue Jays had what was undeniably one of the best lineups in baseball this past season. Their .797 team OPS was an MLB best and they also finished top three in almost every other major offensive category. One area where they did struggle, however, was producing walks. The Blue Jays were ranked 20th in the MLB in this category, behind teams like the Pirates and the Diamondbacks.

Enter Cavan Biggio.

Despite his struggles in his injury-shortened 2021 season, Biggio has proven that he can be one of the league’s best when it comes to getting on base via the walk. Over his first two seasons in 2019-2020, Biggio played in159 games, which is basically equivalent to a full season. Over those two seasons, he walked 112 times, which is an absolutely elite place.

To put it in perspective, that would have placed him in second among all MLB hitters for walks in the 2021 season, behind only Juan Soto. He also boasted a .368 on-base percentage over that period, which would have placed him in 18th in MLB, tied with Max Muncy and ahead of Fernando Tatis Jr, and would have been the second-best on the Blue Jays (behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr).

While the departure of Marcus Semien has left a void in the Blue Jays lineup, Cavan Biggio has the potential the step up and transform the offence.

These stats are admittedly cherry-picked and don’t paint the full picture of Cavan as a hitter, but the fact is that he gets on base and makes the pitcher throw a lot of pitches in doing so cannot be ignored. Not to mention that he’s also a lefty, something that the Jays didn’t normally have in their lineup for most of 2021. His skill set could bring a whole new dimension to the Jays offence that simply wasn’t there before.

It would be unfair to expect Cavan to fill the hole that Semien has left, but what he can bring could still be incredibly impactful on the Jays lineup. Having a left-handed bat who’s a constant threat to get on base completely transforms the complexion of this lineup, and will force opposing pitchers to take a completely different approach. It’s no guarantee that Cavan will return to his 2019-2020 form, but given his age and talent, there’s plenty of room for optimism about what he can bring to this team.