The defense on the left side of the Blue Jays’ infield has been a liability in April, which represents a new challenge as the club tries to balance long-term development with competing in 2021.

Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio have six errors apiece, many of which for Biggio have come on poor throws across the diamond to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first. In 2019, or even 2020, these could be viewed more plainly as learning experiences, but given the Blue Jays’ postseason expectations, there’s an increased urgency to get the defense fixed.

The Blue Jays aren’t pushing the panic button, though. In Sunday’s series finale in St. Petersburg against the Rays, Bichette got a DH day with Marcus Semien at shortstop and Biggio started in right with Santiago Espinal at third. There’s nothing permanent about this switch, of course, and the Blue Jays expect both to bounce back.

“Knowing these kids for as long as I have, and as long as we have up here, they’re going to continue to work and they’re going to continue to find ways to get better,” said Major League coach John Schneider, who managed this young core in the Minor Leagues. “They’re out there every day with Luis [Rivera]. Over the course of a long season, every player is going to go through an up and down, whether that’s offense, defense or both. We’re kind of in that right now, but we’re counting on them to figure some things out.”

Biggio is versatile and will continue to move around the field in the coming months and years, but Bichette’s case is different. He’s locked in at shortstop, and while it’s still very early in the season and early in Bichette’s career, the Blue Jays need to be confident that he’s their long-term answer at the position. Offensively, Bichette has incredible potential, but this is a question of defense.

Even with the need to compete on a nightly basis, development remains part of the equation. Just look at Semien, who made a whopping 35 errors as a shortstop in 2015 at age 24, but remained dedicated to his craft and became a strong fielder.

“There’s development that’s going to happen for these guys throughout their career, not just this year,” Schneider said. “It’s funny when you look at these guys, Cavan with his on-base percentage, and Bo and Vlad as pretty dynamic offensive players, you forget how young they are because of how good they are sometimes. With that, you take the really good part and then, at times, you have to understand that there’s still going to be some development.”

Vintage Vladdy
Schneider managed the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats back in 2018, when Guerrero dominated the Eastern League, hitting .402 with 14 home runs and a 1.120 OPS over 61 games. As Guerrero stepped into the spotlight as the top prospect in baseball, he showcased his elite-level potential at the plate.

The 2019 and 2020 seasons didn’t follow that same script after Guerrero made his big league debut, but with the first baseman off to a scorching hot start in ’21, Schneider is seeing the old Guerrero.

“Eerily similar,” Schneider said. “He’s always in good counts right now. He is doing damage on balls in the heart of the zone. He’s getting hits with two strikes that he wasn’t getting the last couple of years. We all know he’s got elite bat-to-ball skills, elite exit velo, bat speed, all of that. It goes back to the offseason; he had to get himself into position physically. He’s just much more athletic in the box right now.”

Kirk developing finer areas of game
Young catcher Alejandro Kirk can hit. That’s not in question. His defense will determine how big a role he has on this team, though, and how soon. Given Danny Jansen’s slow start offensively, it’s possible Kirk starts to eat into his playing time as the season develops, and the staff has been encouraged by some of his progress behind the dish.

“The biggest thing is understanding game plans,” Schneider said. “When he was up last year, it was kind of a crash course on the difference between A-ball and the big leagues. He’s gotten much more comfortable with that and much more comfortable with his setup. You can see he’s on one knee a little bit less than he was last year.”