Who’s on Third?

Is it too early to be worrying about the future of third base? Yes. Is Biggio going to be the long-term third baseman? Probably not. Are we possibly making a big deal out of this? Yes. Am I still going to write about it? Absolutely.

There are two very important components to a championship calibre team: pitching and defence. So far for the Jays this year, their pitching has actually been quite good; they currently lead the American League in ERA. Their defence on the other hand, has not been so good, especially on the left side of the infield.

Bichette has been the Jays’ everyday shortstop since he was called up to the big leagues in July 2019 and Biggio has played a majority of his games at second base since his call-up as well. When the Jays signed former A’s shortstop Marcus Semien to a one-year deal, people thought we could see Bo get moved to third or second base. However, it was Semien that was asked to play second, and Biggio has been moved to third. Biggio is no stranger to moving around the diamond, as he has been the Jays’ swiss army knife. He has played games at first, second, third, and each of the three outfield positions during his major league career.

Biggio’s time at third base this season has been an adventure to say the least. While he has made some good plays, he’s also struggled at times, most noticeably with his arm strength. He has been bailed out a few times by either Guerrero or Tellez at first with some nice picks in the dirt, but has had difficulty sending high, easy throws across the diamond. So far this season, Biggio has made 13 of his starts at third, he has committed four errors, and has a DRS (defensive runs saved) of -2. Yes it is early, and this is his first season playing third on a daily basis, but so far it hasn’t been great. This isn’t to say he won’t improve, but so far, every time there is a ground ball hit to the left side of the infield, I wouldn’t be surprised if most Jays fans are holding their breath.

Biggio is going to play a majority of his games this year at third, regardless how nervous it may make Jays fans. The Blue Jays are going to give Biggio every opportunity to improve this season, and based on how he does this year, they can make a decision on how to move forward. On a championship team, is Biggio your starting third baseman? Probably not, but this isn’t a championship team. While the Jays have made improvements with the signings of Springer, Semien, and Ray, this isn’t a championship calibre team yet. If the Jays were all-in this year, and Biggio was playing poor defence at third base, then they would likely look to replace him. However, the Jays aren’t World Series-competitive this year, and so they will ride it out with him at the hot corner.

The same holds true for Bichette, who is going to play most of his games this year at shortstop. The Jays are going to give him the opportunity to improve and show that he can be a more-than-capable big-league shortstop. It will remain to be seen if Bichette is going to be the everyday shortstop in the coming years, especially with all of the All-Star level shortstops that are going to be free agents after this season.

There is a lot of work to do for the Jays defensively if they plan to be World Series contenders. While they do plan to be competitive this year, they aren’t expected to win the division or have a deep playoff run. This is the time to see what they have, and what needs to be improved. I know it is very early to look to the offseason, but there are some very talented infielders that are going to become free agents after this season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Jays go after at least one of them to sure up their defence. In the meantime, it will be Bichette and Biggio on the left side of the infield for the foreseeable future and Jays fans will just have to be patient with them as they continue to develop.