May 2, 2019
Blue Jays Future Watch: Biggio pushing for promotion
Scott Mitchell takes a biweekly look at three Blue Jays prospects: One who’s hot, one who’s cold and one under-the-radar name making waves in the lower levels.
TORONTO — The top prospect in baseball is finally in the major leagues, but the Toronto Blue Jays’ pipeline isn’t close to drying up.
We saw a wave come through last summer, headlined by catcher Danny Jansen and a number of arms. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s arrival is the start of another one.
It’s perhaps the most important wave yet, as Vladdy Jr., Cavan Biggio, and, eventually, Bo Bichette are expected to form the core of the next Blue Jays contender.
But prospect development isn’t linear.
There will be down years, disappointments, and out and out busts.
There will also be surprises from within, as players we haven’t talked about much break out and force their way into the equation.
Using our Top 50 Blue Jays prospects list as a guide to the names that matter within the system, every two weeks from the beginning of May through the first week of September we’ll take a closer look at three Blue Jays prospects: One who’s hot, one who’s cold and one under-the-radar name making waves in the lower levels.
SCORCHING HOT
INF/OF Cavan Biggio, Triple-A Buffalo Bisons
With Guerrero in the big leagues and Bichette out for at least a month with a fractured left hand, Biggio is the player Jays fans are clamouring for now.
It’s rational, too.
Over the winter we mentioned on a couple of occasions that the 24-year-old’s age and college pedigree would likely mean that, with a good start, he could see the majors by June or July, rather than be put on the Bichette plan where all the stars would have to align for a call-up.
That’s exactly what’s happened, as Biggio has come out of the gates hot in Buffalo, running up a .361/.495/.625 slash line with a team-leading five home runs in 23 games.
Most impressively, the left-handed hitter has been able to keep his walk rate from Double-A a year ago intact — 21.5 percent this year, up from 17.8 percent in Double-A — while also cutting his strikeouts from 26.3 per cent to 17.2 per cent.
It’s obviously a small sample size and just one month of baseball, but Biggio is also hitting fewer ground balls and more line drives, and generally doing everything in his power to force the Blue Jays front office’s hand.
There are roster dominoes that need to fall ahead of him before he gets a chance, but the fact he’s played second base (11 games), first base (six games), third base (three games) and outfield (one game) only helps open up more paths to a promotion, one that’s looking likely at some point this summer, if not sooner.
Honourable mentions: SS Jordan Groshans, Low-A Lansing (.342/.429/.507 with 2 HR in 19 G); SP Nate Pearson, High-A Dunedin (21 IP, 10 H, 3 BB, 35 K, 0.86 ERA).
ICE COLD
SS/3B Kevin Smith, Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Talked up relentlessly by the front office over the winter, Smith’s first month in Double-A has been anything but memorable.
A fourth-round pick out of the University of Maryland in 2017, Smith burst onto the scene last summer in his first full minor-league campaign, hitting 25 homers and stealing 29 bases across the Low-A and High-A levels.
The breakout with the bat, combined with an excellent reputation as a solid defender at three infield spots, had Smith appearing on a couple of top 100 prospect lists over the winter, topping out at No. 91 on Baseball America’s ranking.
Safe to say, the month of April wasn’t how the 22-year-old wanted to start his transition to the upper minors, as Smith has entered May slashing just .191/.242/.303 with two home runs.
Smith has struck out 27 times in 89 at-bats with New Hampshire, while splitting time between shortstop (15 games) and third base (six games).
In last year’s breakout, the month of May was kind to Smith, as he slashed a gaudy .374/.434/.687, so we’ll see if he can adjust to Double-A in a similar fashion.
Honourable mentions: SP Sean Reid-Foley, Triple-A Buffalo (19 IP, 24 H, 20 BB, 27 K, 10.42 ERA); OF Anthony Alford, Triple-A Buffalo (.138/.222/.277 with 2 HR in 19 G).
UNDER THE RADAR
C Alejandro Kirk, Low-A Lansing Lugnuts
A bench piece on our 25-man roster of 2018 standouts in the Blue Jays pipeline last September, GM Ross Atkins offered up this assessment of the human fire hydrant at the dish.
“Kirk showed elite contact rates this year, along with very strong contact authority, a combination that made him one of the top hitters in the Appy league,” Atkins said.
Well, Kirk, who was signed out of Mexico during the 2016 July 2 signing period, is doubling down on the .354/.443/.558 slash line he produced with the Appalachian League’s Bluefield Blue Jays last summer, putting together another impressive line over the past month in his first full-season assignment.
In 20 games at Low-A, Kirk has hit .311/.429/.541 with three homers and more walks than whiffs (16 walks, eight Ks), showing even more power alongside the aforementioned elite contact rates.
Listed at 5-foot-9 and 220 pounds, Kirk’s body is already seen as high maintenance — go take a look at portly Minnesota Twins catcher Willians Astudillo for a comparison — but you can’t quibble with the Mexican backstop’s production up to this point.
Honourable mentions: C Riley Adams, High-A Dunedin (.295/.456/.492 with 3 HR in 18 G); SP Maximo Castillo, High-A Dunedin (27 IP, 18 H, 4 BB, 27 K, 2.33 ERA).