Here's what to expect from Bichette

Another big piece of the Blue Jays’ future is heading to the Major Leagues as the club promoted top prospect Bo Bichette on Monday ahead of Toronto’s three-game road series against the Royals.

Bichette, MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 overall prospect, was removed in the third inning of Triple-A Buffalo’s game on Sunday and was congratulated by his Bisons teammates upon reaching the dugout. The news of the 21-year-old Bichette’s imminent arrival to the big leagues came amidst an already busy day for the Blue Jays, as they dealt Eric Sogard to the Rays during the afternoon and then shipped ace Marcus Stroman to the Mets for a pair of pitching prospects just hours later.

The addition of Bichette to the Blue Jays’ roster gives the club yet another legacy player to go along with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio, who have already established themselves as main cogs in Toronto’s lineup. Bichette’s father, Dante, was a four-time All-Star with the Rockies during his 14 seasons in the Major Leagues and led the National League with 40 home runs in 1995.

Together, Guerrero, Bichette and Biggio represent the future for a Blue Jays organization that is poised to build around the talented trio in the years to come.

Selected by Toronto in the second round of the 2016 Draft out of Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Fla., Bichette showed during Spring Training this year that he was nearly ready for the Major Leagues. Appearing in parts of 20 games, he batted .410/.465/.795 with four home runs, three doubles and 10 runs.

The performance was a continuation of what has been a hugely successful career-to-date for Bichette, who has long been viewed as one of the best offensive prospects in the Minor Leagues.

After signing with the Blue Jays for an above-slot bonus of $1.1 million, Bichette batted .427/.451/.732 in his pro debut over 22 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. He led the Minors in batting with a .362 average in his first full season, posting a .988 OPS with 14 homers, 41 doubles, 74 RBIs and 22 steals in 110 games between Class A Lansing and Class A Advanced Dunedin.

Advancing to Double-A at age 20 in 2018, Bichette led the Eastern League in hits (154), doubles (43), extra-base hits (61), total bases (244) and runs scored (95) as the circuit’s second-youngest regular. He hit 11 home runs, 43 doubles and also swiped 32 bags, batting .286/.343/.453 in 131 games with New Hampshire.

Bichette was off to a strong start at Triple-A Buffalo this year before he suffered a broken left hand via hit by pitch on April 22. Though the injury sidelined him for roughly six weeks, Bichette made a healthy return in early June with a rehab assignment at Dunedin before returning to the Bisons’ lineup on June 12.

Despite the layoff, Bichette has put up his usual strong numbers in 2019, compiling a .288/.355/.485 batting line with eight homers, 28 extra-base hits and 16 steals in 60 games between Buffalo and Dunedin.

Here’s a deeper look at what Blue Jays fans can expect to see from their highly touted shortstop in the big leagues:

Hit: Bichette has a violent and somewhat unorthodox right-handed swing that includes a deep hand load, but he controls it well, generating an abundance of hard, line-drive contact from line to line through a combination of bat speed, bat-to-ball skills and a clean path through the zone. To put it simply, he just has a knack for finding the barrel and does so against any pitch in any count.

He does overswing at times, which leads to the occasional off-balance hack as well as some swing-and-miss, but the overall approach is very advanced, and he's comfortable taking his walks and shortening his swing with two strikes. He hits well against both right- and left-handed pitchers, and he has put up especially good numbers against southpaws in his Minor League career.

Power: Bichette isn’t the biggest guy, listed at 6 feet and 185 pounds, but he’s physically strong for his size and possesses plus raw power that gives him the potential to hit for above-average power in the big leagues as he continues to develop physically. What’s more, the nature of Bichette’s swing allows him to drive the ball out of the park to all fields, and it’s only a matter of time until many of his doubles begin to clear fences.

Run: While he’s not a burner, Bichette does have at least average speed that plays up on the basepaths thanks to his exceptional instincts. He finished second in the Eastern League with 32 steals in 2018 and has swiped at least 16 bases in all three of his full-season campaigns. He knows how to read pitchers and intelligently picks his spots to steal and receives high marks for his overall baserunning.

Defense/Arm: Bichette worked hard with the Blue Jays staff on improving his defense at shortstop ahead of the 2018 season and continued to make gains as the season unfolded, showing cleaner footwork and actions as well as a more consistent glove to his backhand. His blend of speed, quick feet and strong instincts give him good range in all directions, and he has the requisite above-average arm strength for the position.

Some scouts have questioned whether Bichette might fit better as a second baseman long term -- he’s appeared in 30 games at second base vs. 272 at shortstop in his four-year career -- but the gains he’s made in all facets of his defense has club officials convinced more than ever that the 21-year-old has the tools to stick as a big league shortstop.

Regardless of where Bichette plays, it’s clear that he’s going to make a significant impact at the plate, with some pegging him as a potential batting champion who also hits for power in his prime.