Spring Training

[BigLeagueChew]

Harper draws 4-man outfield shift

All four outfielders - including Eric Sogard on both occasions - played deep. The shortstop also shifted to the right of second base, leaving the left side of the infield completely vacant.

"I've never seen that. That's intense," Harper told The Associated Press. "If they start playing ball like that, it's definitely different.

Four-man outfield alignments are rare but not unheard of; Texas Rangers slugger Joey Gallo has faced them on multiple occasions.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, entering his rookie campaign as an MLB skipper, told reporters his team would deploy unusual defensive alignments in the final weeks of spring training and that he plans to use them during the regular season, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/1732343

[vaff87]

Bichette has 2 homers and a double, so far today.

[dagger]

Bichette has 2 homers and a double, so far today.

Bo and Rowdy both homered twice - in the same innings (first and eighth). First inning homers were off Jake Odorrizi.

[dagger]

And then there is this:

The worm almost always turns, so you have to watch what you say

Read on Twitter

[Lateral Quicks]

And then there is this:

The worm almost always turns, so you have to watch what you say

Read on Twitter

dagger knows how to rack up the easy up votes

[Lateral Quicks]

Bichette has 2 homers and a double, so far today.

Looks like he wants to join Vladdy with the big club in May. That's unlikely to happen, but I will say his hair/facial hair game is definitely MLB ready.

[Schad]

Bichette has 2 homers and a double, so far today.

Looks like he wants to join Vladdy with the big club in May. That's unlikely to happen, but I will say his hair/facial hair game is definitely MLB ready.

Could hang in Minnesota high school hockey, too:

Read on Twitter

[So_Fresh]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

[So_Fresh]

Bichette has 2 homers and a double, so far today.

Read on Twitter

[vaff87]

Really encouraging to see these guys doing well. Remember, the biggest problem with Tellez the last couple of years was that his power evaporated. It seems during his promotion to the majors last year, and so far in Spring Training, it’s back.

[Schad]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

Probably not ready for the big leagues. He hit .286/.343/.453 in AA last year...that's very good for a 20 year old middle infielder, but not the sort of numbers that tend to translate to immediate success. His ZiPS projection, should he play in the bigs this season, is basically Pillar at the plate. We aren't wasting him by waiting until we're sure that he is ready; unlike Vlad, I don't expect us to fixate on service time, so if he puts together a good record in AAA, I'd expect him up midseason.

[vaff87]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

Probably not ready for the big leagues. He hit .286/.343/.453 in AA last year...that's very good for a 20 year old middle infielder, but not the sort of numbers that tend to translate to immediate success. His ZiPS projection, should he play in the bigs this season, is basically Pillar at the plate. We aren't wasting him by waiting until we're sure that he is ready; unlike Vlad, I don't expect us to fixate on service time, so if he puts together a good record in AAA, I'd expect him up midseason.

I think Bo will have a really good year in AAA. If that happens, I think they should call him up mid-season.

If we call him up in June/July, does that mean we’ll have 6.5 years of control? I don’t understand what the June Super 2 deadline is.

[The_Hater]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

Maybe his bat, and that’s debateable at best, but where are you planning on playing him defensively?

[Schad]

If we call him up in June/July, does that mean we’ll have 6.5 years of control? I don’t understand what the June Super 2 deadline is.

Yeah, if we call him up in June/July, his FA date will be the same as Vlad's. However, whereas Vlad (barring injury) is about 99.9% likely to be Super 2, Bichette might not be if called up midyear. Hard to say; the formula is such that the date fluctuates, but it's usually 2 years and something like 130 days, and a mid-June callup would see him fall short...as a point of reference, Edwin Diaz was at 2 years, 212 days after a June 6th callup in 2016 and ended up with 13 days too little service time to qualify.

[bluerap23]

If we call him up in June/July, does that mean we’ll have 6.5 years of control? I don’t understand what the June Super 2 deadline is.

Yeah, if we call him up in June/July, his FA date will be the same as Vlad's. However, whereas Vlad (barring injury) is about 99.9% likely to be Super 2, Bichette might not be if called up midyear. Hard to say; the formula is such that the date fluctuates, but it's usually 2 years and something like 130 days, and a mid-June callup would see him fall short...as a point of reference, Edwin Diaz was at 2 years, 212 days after a June 6th callup in 2016 and ended up with 13 days too little service time to qualify.

Does a September call-up start the clock?

[vaff87]

If we call him up in June/July, does that mean we’ll have 6.5 years of control? I don’t understand what the June Super 2 deadline is.

Yeah, if we call him up in June/July, his FA date will be the same as Vlad's. However, whereas Vlad (barring injury) is about 99.9% likely to be Super 2, Bichette might not be if called up midyear. Hard to say; the formula is such that the date fluctuates, but it's usually 2 years and something like 130 days, and a mid-June callup would see him fall short...as a point of reference, Edwin Diaz was at 2 years, 212 days after a June 6th callup in 2016 and ended up with 13 days too little service time to qualify.

Does a September call-up start the clock?

Yeah.

[So_Fresh]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

Maybe his bat, and that’s debateable at best, but where are you planning on playing him defensively?

debatable? spring training results would say otherwise. I would platoon him with Galvis. Have him come off the bench to start. he could also get playing time by slotting him at 2B.

[Schad]

debatable? spring training results would say otherwise.

It's a sample size equivalent to seven or eight games. That isn't remotely enough to declare that his bat is unequivocally ready.

Have him come off the bench to start. he could also get playing time by slotting him at 2B.

You don't bring top prospects off the bench, nor platoon them.

[The_Hater]

Bichette is looking really good fellas. I would hate to see him waste a year in AAA. This kid is ready for the big leagues!

Maybe his bat, and that’s debateable at best, but where are you planning on playing him defensively?

debatable? spring training results would say otherwise. I would platoon him with Galvis. Have him come off the bench to start. he could also get playing time by slotting him at 2B.

I would be careful with placing too much stock in a handful of spring training AB’s. Any hitter can have a good week and Bichette wasn’t anything special against AA pitching last season.

Maybe he is ready earlier than expected but it’s far from obvious. I remember one season Carlos Delgado hit the cover off the ball during the spring, they manufactured a position for him to play (LF) and kept him with the big club out of spring, the decision looked brilliant for the first couple of weeks as he hit the cover off the ball but he was sent back to the minors after a few more weeks because he started struggling badly. He didn’t make the team full time for 2 more seasons.

Anyways, if you keep Bichette with the big club he absolutely needs to start. Bringing him off the bench is a bad idea. If that’s the plan, you leave him in AAA and let him play SS and get 4-5 AB’s every day. And his defense still needs a lot of work so putting him back in the minors would likely be best regardless of his bat.

[vaff87]

Last year, Bo really had two prolonged slumps that ruined his season numbers. And he admitted that the first one was the first time he’s ever been in a slump in his life, and he had no clue how to get out of it.

As for his defense. It’s possible that the infield instructors are better with the Jays, than with the Bisons. Not necessarily, tho.

I think if he has a good first few months of the season, they should call him up in June/July. If he’s only so-so, keep him down there all year.