Blue Jays
• Cavan Biggio changed his mechanics and performed better.
From May 23 on, Cavan Biggio slashed .265/.378/.407 with a 124 wRC+, re-establishing himself as a valuable complement to the lineup. A change in mechanics and mindset helped Biggio have his first above-average offensive season since the shortened 2020 campaign and moving forward, he’ll slide into a versatile super-utility man role.
Here is an explanation of the change:
Biggio has worked to “swing down” more, which sounds counterintuitive in an era of baseball obsessed with hitting the ball in the air. He recognized early that his attempts to lift the ball had him pulling his bat away from the zone too quickly. The balance was all off.
“I’ve always been a guy who hits a lot of fly balls, especially when I’m not really using the whole field,” Biggio said. “Swinging down on it, keeping my head on it and being able to use the whole field has been able to help me cover the whole zone. That gives me a ton of confidence.”
This started back in Spring Training, when Biggio attached himself to Victor Martinez. V-Mart has been with the organization as a special assistant and had an immediate impact on a handful of the club’s young hitters, Biggio included.
Biggio lowered his launch angle some (20 degrees to 16 degrees). The problem is that he only has a 33% HardHit%, so he profiles as a flyout hitter. Too much launch angle to hit line drives, and too little power to hit home runs. All of Biggio’s 2023 gains are plate discipline based with his 1H to 2H K% going from 31% to 21% and his 1H to 2H BB% going from 7% to 16%.