Blue Jays: Cavan Biggio's early success is good for many reasons

With games now underway, awaiting the posting of the lineup graphic from the Blue Jays Twitter account is something to look forward to every morning. Looking to see what established starters will share the field with exciting prospects on any given day is one of the pleasures of baseball in March. One player who’s been consistently featured in Blue Jays lineup this spring is Cavan Biggio.

Biggio is coming off of two seasons that didn’t particularly go his way. From defensive miscues at third base, injuries, offensive inconsistencies and a lack of playing time, he experienced it all. Biggio is hoping for better things in 2023. After almost a week of Spring Training games, he’s been given a chance to perform.

This is a guy who was a 3 bWAR player as a rookie in 2019 and a 2 bWAR player in a shortened 2020 season, doing all of it by just being himself. Reliable defense around the diamond, decent pop in his bat, and an excellent eye at the plate made for a great player to have on an up and coming team. However, since that 2020 season his struggles have been well documented.

Biggio comes in 2023 without a defined role. A look at the depth chart for second base shows Whit Merrifield and Santiago Espinal ahead of him. However, given Biggio’s ability to shift over to first and the corner outfield, a utility role seems to be the most feasible option for the once highly touted prospect.

With these questions hanging in the air, it seems as though John Schneider and the Blue Jays are making an effort to see just what they have in Cavan Biggio for 2023. Biggio has started four games so far in the spring, seeing time at second base, first base, and right field. He’s fared well, seeing a lot of pitches, picking up some hits, and manning his positions well, including these beauty in right field from the game Tuesday afternoon.

Good performances from Biggio in the spring bode well for just about everyone involved. The most obvious of which is Biggio himself. A good spring could see him move up on the depth chart and be first in line at a multitude of positions when a regular needs a day off. Thinking outside the box however, some theories can be drawn up as to the possibility of a trade.

Biggio’s potential of being a swiss-army knife type player while posting an OPS north of .800 could be tantalizing to teams looking for a boost to their roster before opening day. The abundance of at bats received by Biggio thus far puts together a nice audition tape for opposing teams to watch. While there’s no surfaced rumors of teams checking in with the Jays, a team that sticks out all of a sudden is the Dodgers.

After the loss of their shortstop Gavin Lux to a torn ACL, a capable left handed bat in the middle of the infield would be helpful for a team looking to win another 100 games.

Ideas of the return for Biggio vary. The Blue Jays could go the depth route, and look to continue to acquire young pitchers in a continued effort to produce more hard throwing strikeout artists. There’s also the more likely option to swap Biggio for another major league piece.

Regardless, there’s no one upset with Biggio taking advantage of the chances he’s been handed this spring. The Blue Jays are seeing that Biggio could be up to the challenge of filling that super-utility role, while teams across the league could be starting to notice as well. Whatever becomes of Biggio's status as a Blue Jay, a good start to the spring is a welcome sight to everyone.