Biggio, Gurriel join the big club
Second vaunted prospect with hall of fame lineage to make Jays debut in ’19
Blue Jays prospect Cavan Biggio will get his highly anticipated promotion to the big leagues on Friday, when he and infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr take the Buffalo-Toronto shuttle for a three-game series against the San Diego Padres.
Biggio, the super utility infielder who, at 24 years old, was considered Toronto’s No. 9 prospect at the start of the season, has been carving out a name for himself in the minor leagues, starting with a breakout season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats last year. He was promoted to Triple-A Buffalo to start this season and has posted a .307/ .445/.504 slash line with a .949 OPS, six home runs and 26 RBIs in 42 games.
Gurriel received a demotion to Triple-A on April 14 that was linked to some poor throwing. Gurriel has since played 30 games for the Bisons, manning his traditional second base and shortstop as well as playing seven games at left field and three at first base as the Jays work to transform him into a more versatile player that better fits with their future.
Toronto’s system has much depth at the middle infield positions, with fewer options in the outfield.
Gurriel, who was hitting .175 when he parted ways with the Jays, was hitting .273 with four home runs and 26 RBIs for the Bisons.
Infielder Richard Urena, who has gone back and forth between Toronto and Buffalo this year, and outfielder Billy McKinney, who is hitting .234 this season, will be demoted in the corresponding moves.
Biggio, son of baseball hall of famer Craig Biggio, has been linked with Toronto’s other top prospects with distinguished baseball bloodlines, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, since the three started dominating Double-A last year, leading the Fisher Cats to an Eastern League championship.
Guerrero was promoted in late April and has hit .253 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in his first month in the big leagues. When Bichette, the Jays’ No. 2 prospect, was sidelined with a fractured bone in his left hand around the time of Guerrero’s promotion, Biggio was widely regarded as next in line to make the jump to the majors.
“I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t thinking about it,” Biggio told The Canadian Press earlier this month. “We’re in Triple-A here, and playing the secondhighest level of baseball is amazing but don’t get me wrong — we all want to be in the big leagues.”
Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Wednesday that Gurriel needed to be more consistent with his throws before he could rejoin Toronto. Gurriel was charged with three errors in Buffalo, two at second base and one in left field.
Reports from Triple-A manager Bobby Meacham to Montoyo were that he looks normal in left field and likes playing there.
“He feels comfortable there,” Montoyo said.
Biggio is not yet on the Jays’ 40-man roster.