Why the Blue Jays should be Playing Biggio at 2nd as often as possible

Cavan Biggio has shown in 2020 that he can play all over the diamond, but having him play anywhere but 2B long term can have a catastrophic impact on team chemistry and his personal development.

The MLB is changing, and the way teams value their players is changing with it. So much now is based on advanced stats, so much so that the non-number-based metrics are sometimes now overlooked.

In recent years, the Blue Jays have struck a gold mine with home-grown talent developed in their system and are now in the big leagues. There’s Nate Pearson, who the Blue Jays hope can be the ace of the rotation for the foreseeable future. As for their infield, the Jays promoted three young players back in the 2019 season that will be the cornerstones of the infield for years to come.

Every Jays fan has heard of the core three, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio. Since day one, Bichette has been the team’s shortstop, and it’s clear that whenever Guerrero isn’t playing DH, he will be at one of the corner infield spots (1st or 3rd).

Biggio’s path also looked pretty straight forward, and he was to be the Blue Jays answer at 2nd base. He played the majority of his minor league career at 2nd base and had impressive numbers while playing there.

However, as I mentioned earlier, there is more to it than numbers. Biggio and Bichette played in the minor leagues together, and so far in their major league career have shown great chemistry together. They are comfortable together, and if you don’t think the chatting on the field in-between plays doesn’t matter, you’re wrong. It can keep morale and spirits high, a trait not measured by advanced stats.

Now consider how young Biggio is. There is still so much room to grow at only 25 years old and not even a full 162 game schedule under his belt (159 career games).

Biggio is already proving to be an incredibly impressive MLB player. He played in 59 of 60 games this past season with a batting average of .250 and was walked an incredible 41 times (2nd in the American League). He also had a 15.6% chase rate, which was tops in the MLB!

Then there’s the versatility aspect of Biggio’s game that is undoubtedly impressive. He can hit, defend, and run (20 stolen bases in his career so far). Last season he played an incredible five different positions; 2B, 3B, CF, LF, and RF. Nothing wrong with that; if you can have a player who can play those positions and play them well, it helps with overall team depth.

The Blue Jay's should only play him away from second base when an injury or somethings makes it necessary. In that case, if he's the next best outfielder the Jays have and have a backup second baseman they trust, throw Biggio in the outfield.

However, with a healthy roster, Biggio should be the Blue Jay's 2nd baseman. In a couple of years, Biggio and Bichette could be one of the league's best duos in the middle infield. The Jays need people to solidify positions, and Biggio has done enough to show he can be this team's long-term second baseman. Playing him all around the diamond too often will slow down his primary defensive development at 2nd base.

Suppose Guerrero does eventually end up at the everyday first baseman, and prospect Jordan Groshans takes over at third base sometime in the next couple of seasons. In that case, the Jays will have a young and exciting infield just about every other MLB team could only wish to have. Biggio is this team's future at second base, and they should be playing him there every game they can.