TORONTO -- Baseball runs in the Bichette family and now the Blue Jays will be able to experience that first hand after selecting Bo -- son of Dante -- in the second round of the MLB Draft.
Dante Bichette, a four-time All-Star at the big-league level, was known as a power hitter and so is his son. Bo won the Under Armour All-American Game Home Run Derby and is coming off a year in which he hit .569 with 13 home runs as a high school senior.
The Blue Jays drafted him as a shortstop but most projections have him moving over to either second or third base. If he makes it as a big leaguer it will likely be because of the power stroke that made his family name so famous.
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Dante Bichette did things his own unique way and had some quirky mechanics at the plate so perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that his son followed suit. According to MLBPipeline.com, Bichette became a polarizing prospect this spring because some scouts wondered how his unorthodox set-up would work at the next level.
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Bichette currently has a commitment to attend Arizona State University but in the days leading up to the Draft he seemed eager to join the professional ranks. Bichette was expected to go on Day 1 but the exact spot was not known and with the 66th selection coming with a recommended slot value of $978,600 he will now have some tough decisions to make.
"The Blue Jays were the top team that I wanted to go to," Bichette told The Tampa Bay Times. "They were the best as far as player development.
"I may end up taking a little less [in signing bonus], but this is the best fit. I actually turned down about four offers earlier in the draft because they weren't good fits."
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Bichette's brother, Dante Bichette Jr., was taken by the Yankees with the 51st overall selection in the 2011 Draft. Bo was recently named the Gatorade Florida Player of the Year and on Wednesday he was named the Florida Dairy Farmers 2016 Mr. Baseball.
Bo also walked 32 times in 100 plate appearances this season and finished with a .707 on-base percentage and a 1.424 slugging percentage. He started at shortstop in Lakeland, Fla., but with a body that's designed for power that might not be his spot for very long.
First thing is first for Toronto, though, the club will need to convince him to sign.
"He's just a special kid," Lakewood coach Jayce Ganchou told The Times. "He's the complete package."