Blue Jays Designate Cavan Biggio For Assignment

 

The Blue Jays declared that they have recalled infielder Spencer Horwitz and that they have designated outfielder/infielder Cavan Biggio for assignment in tandem. Their 40-man roster is reduced to 39 players. Horwitz will be joining the team, according to what Sportsnet's Shi Davidi reported earlier on X.


Biggio, 29, has spent some time playing many positions for the Jays. When he initially joined the major leagues, he displayed a good eye at the plate, but it appears that pitchers learned that if they threw him more strikes, he wouldn't be able to do much damage. In his debut season of 2019, he drew walks in 16.5% of his plate appearances; however, the percentage has decreased annually. In 2020, it was 15.5%; the following years, it dropped to 12.6%, 12.5%, and 11.8%.

Biggio has only been walking at a 10.7% clip now in 2024. Even so, that exceeds the league average.

which is a significant decrease from where he started but is 8.3% thus far this season. Over the years, strikeouts have also grown to be an increasing issue for him. He was punched out at a rate of about 23% in 2021, which was about league average. However, in the following seasons, that rate increased to the mid 20s, and it is at 32.1% this year.

Thanks to his on-base abilities, Biggio was able to hit .240/.368/.430 over the 2019 and 2020 seasons. He hit 16 home runs in the first of those seasons but that is now considered by many to be a “juiced ball” season where home runs reached unprecedented levels. That production still translated to a wRC+ of 118 but he’s hit just .219/.327/.351 since then for a 94 wRC+, which includes a line of .200/.323/.291 and 88 wRC+ here in 2024.