FUTURE’S IN FLIGHT FOR HIGHLY TOUTED JAYS PROSPECTS
Guerrero, Bichette bring talents to Miami for Futures Game, writes Rob Longley.
MIAMI In between stretches of tearing up the competition in the Midwest League earlier this summer, Lansing Lugnuts teammates Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have taken time to talk about one day doing the same thing with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Even though they’re both teenagers and even though they’re at least a couple of seasons away from the big leagues, it’s difficult not to look forward.
And both Guerrero Jr. and Bichette can clearly envision being teammates on the ride all the way up to Toronto.
“We talk about how we’re going to play together hopefully for a long time,” Bichette said prior to Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game at Marlins Park. “We both would love that. We always say, ‘Let’s push each other and help each other out because we’re going to play together for a long time.’ “We definitely think about it.” Both players carry high expectations on their own merit.
And both will report to the Dunedin Blue Jays across the state after they are done with the all-star festivities, the next step on their journey to the majors.
Jays brass is justifiably giddy with the prospect of both players and their status among the highly scrutinized prospect world.
The fact both are here — and are still teenagers — is another nod to that development.
In the mid-season top 100 prospects list recently released by Baseball America, Guerrero Jr. soared all the way to No. 2 from 16th in the winter.
Bichette made an even bigger move from No. 93 to No. 44.
Guerrero, the son of former all-star Vladimir Guerrero, is batting .316 through 71 games with the Lugnuts as an 18-yearold.
Bichette, the 19-year-old son of former all-star Dante Bichette, is hitting .384 in his first full minorleague season with 32 doubles, 10 homers and 51 RBIs. In half of the 70 games he’s played there, Bichette had multi-hit games.
So the pair has certainly created a buzz both within the Jays organization and outside of it.
And those efforts over the past three months have merited the move up from the low single-A Midwest League to the advanced single-A Florida State League.
“This was awesome,” Bichette said of being named to the Futures Game, the traditional kickoff event of the all-star festivities. “It was unexpected. I don’t think there are a lot of 19-year-olds out of low (single-) A ball coming to this game. It was an incredible honour. I’m grateful to be here.”
As natural as it is to bring their fathers into the discussion of their progress, both Guerrero and Bichette are trying to forge their own identity within the Jays organization.
So far, so good in that regard. “My dad was the type of hitter that would swing at anything,” said Guerrero, who was born in Montreal when his dad was with the Expos. “I try to wait for my pitch and make sure I get one and then put contact on it.”
Speaking through an interpreter in the Team World clubhouse at Marlins Park, Guerrero talked about spending time with his father and his godfather, Dominican pitching great Pedro Martinez. As much as Guerrero wants to distance himself from dad, keeping such company can’t hurt a young pro intent on making a climb to greatness.
In Bichette’s case, his father’s influence has been felt more in listening to advice on the logistics of being a pro. Dante certainly knows his way around the major leagues after a 14-year career with five different teams.
“It’s cool,” that both have fathers accomplished in the sport, said Bichette, who has flourished as an every day shortstop to complement his prowess at the plate. “For both of us, we want to be the best players we are capable of being and that comes with the territory with having them as our fathers. But we both want to be our own guy and carve our own way. It’s been good for both of us to have the success we’ve had so far.”
In Sunday’s futures game, Team USA hung on for a 7-6 win over their international opponents that had representatives from 12 different countries.
Three Canadians and the two Jays prospects all saw action with varying results. Calgary native Mike Soroka had a strikeout in his one inning of work, allowing one unearned run for Team World, while Cal Quantrill of Port Hope, Ont., allowed two earned runs as he worked the second inning.
Josh Naylor of Mississauga, Ont., drove in Guerrero with a single that he tried to stretch into a double. Guerrero scored a run both times he was on base. Bichette, meanwhile, came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the fifth and smacked a sharply hit liner for an out.
We talk about how we’re going to play together hopefully for a long time (with the Blue Jays.) We both would love that.