Cavan Biggio

Biggio's playing time in 2023 was largely sporadic, but he became an everyday guy in September thanks to his .408 on-base percentage that month and also Davis Schneider's slump. All told, the 28-year-old made 78 starts for the Blue Jays last season, with nearly half of them coming at the keystone. Although his production was up a tick in 2023, Biggio has been a well below average hitter over the last three seasons (92 OPS+) and a far cry from the promise he showed his first two years in the league. He still draws a lot of walks, but Biggio strikes out way too much (26 percent in 2023, 26.7 percent for his career) for a guy who has never made hard contact (33 percent in 2023, 34 percent for his career). A utility role which is unlikely to bear fantasy fruit awaits him in 2024.

We are now nearly 1300 plate appearances into Biggio's big league career, and we need to accept that it is never going to happen for him in Toronto. He has made a career out of a very patient approach at the plate - some could argue even too patient. Perhaps he recognizes a walk is his best chance to reach base as his .228 batting average is the lowest batting average for all players with at least 1000 plate appearances in their career which has at least a .345 OBP in the past 30 years. Toronto has given him plenty of chances, but the tools siply have not translated into results. He has dual-eligibility on draft day, but he desperately needs a change of scenery if any fantasy value is to come from him as the curse of expectations, multiplied by an infamous last name, has been tough to shake in Toronto. There is a chance he becomes more than a one-trick pony in OBP league formats with a fresh start for a non-contender. Oakland; what are you waiting for?

Biggio was among the biggest fantasy busts in the middle rounds last year. The Toronto Star noted last spring that Biggio was a candidate to be adversely affected by a new baseball given he had the eighth-lowest average flyball distance on his homers the year prior. Whether or not the baseball was directly correlated, Biggio lost 2.5 percentage points off his HR/FB and nearly 80 points off his slugging percentage last season. He was banged up throughout the campaign, making multiple trips to the injured list with a cervical spine ligament sprain and later dealing with a UCL sprain. He's a patience hitter as evidenced by his career 15.1 BB%, although he could probably stand to be more aggressive within the strike zone. The son of a Hall of Famer, Biggio is 23-for-24 on the basepaths in the big leagues, but there is only modest thump here around the strikeouts.

Biggio showed that he's not to be overlooked in Toronto. He led the Buffalo Blue Jays in OBP and remained perfect on steal attempts, going 6-for-6 to make him 20-for-20 so far in his big-league career. Just entering his age-26 season, Biggio is already one of the most patient hitters in baseball as evidenced by the lowest O-Swing% among qualifiers in 2020. His overall Swing% was third lowest and his 15.5 BB% ranked 12th in MLB. A case can be made that he was a little too patient in 2020 as his Meatball Swing% was nearly three percentage points below league average. He would be wise to hunt some pitches earlier in counts if he wants to sustain the rate power from last season -- it seems unsustainable right now with his underwhelming batted-ball metrics. Helping his case is three-position eligibility (2B, 3B, OF) in leagues with a 10-game minimum for 2021, as well as his projected spot atop the Toronto order.

One of the Blue Jays' top prospects, Biggio received the callup to the big leagues in late May and was eased into the starting role at second base, starting 84 games at the position. He also started eight games in the outfield, four at DH and two at first base. Overall it was a solid rookie campaign as he posted a .234/.364/.429 slash line with 16 home runs and 14 stolen bases. He continued the trend of a high-strikeout rate from the minors (28.6%), but he also had a 16.5 BB%, which would have been top five in MLB among qualified hitters had Biggo logged enough plate appearances to qualify. Biggio's sophomore campaign should see him in an everyday role in Toronto, and his quality rookie campaign and 20-20-plus potential make him an appealing fantasy asset, even more so if he can reduce the strikeouts.

Biggio is a legitimate major-league prospect, though he's kind of the third wheel in the trio of well-known, second-generation prospects within the Blue Jays' farm system (behind Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette). The son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, Cavan hit 26 homers and stole 20 bases at Double-A New Hampshire last season. The latter total led the Eastern League and he also led the league (by a mile) with 100 walks. However, Biggio struck out 148 times (26.3 K%) as a 23-year-old, which raises questions about his ability to hit major-league pitching. Complicating matters is the fact that the the Blue Jays had Biggio work primarily in the outfield corners during the Arizona Fall League, and if they prefer him out there, it will put more pressure on his bat in the years ahead. It's possible Biggio ultimately breaks into the majors in a utility role.