Heading into the 2023 season, there was no clear-cut second baseman for the Toronto Blue Jays. The club had Whit Merrifield, Santiago Espinal, and Cavan Biggio all fighting for playing time at the spot but both Merrifield and Biggio can slot in other positions, mainly in the outfield and first base (Biggio), while Espinal can also slot over at shortstop or third base if Bichette or Chapman need an off-day as well.

As the season is now past the quarter mark in the year, the clear-cut winner for the second base position is Merrifield, who is holding his own in the batter’s box and in the field as well, slotting in left field when Varsho moves to centre field and working 20 games on the right side of second base, leading the rest of the group. While Espinal has seen his fair share of struggles this season, Biggio is faring worse in the batter’s box.

So far this season, Biggio has 62 at-bats through 23 games while being used as a defensive replacement and a pinch runner on occasion, mustering eight hits on the year. The power has been on display for the Notre Dame product, who has three extra-base hits (37.5% of all his hits) with two being home runs, but his  .129/.182/.242 slash line with 25 strikeouts and .424 OPS is seeing his playing time dip dramatically compared to his counterparts. As a rookie, Biggio really excelled at generating walks and getting on base, a value that has dropped dramatically this season (albeit the small sample size) with the former fifth-round pick sporting a 4.6 BB% this season.

With all this in mind and a costly baserunning error last night that saw him get doubled up at second base after hesitating towards third on Alejandro Kirk’s lineout, it might be time to send Biggio back to Triple-A, a move the Jays utilized last season when the lefty-batter was struggling in the batter’s box and also coming back from COVID-19 in late April. Last season, Biggio battled numerous injuries and inconsistency at the plate, amassing a .202 average and a .668 OPS with 85 strikeouts through 257 at-bats with the Blue Jays. The straw that broke the camel’s back on the potential demotion talk was the baserunning error during Wednesday’s contest, which really destroyed the momentum of the rally that was picking up steam in the eighth inning with the score tied at 0-0, where Biggio came in as a baserunning replacement for Brandon Belt who got the inning started with a leadoff single.

Right now, the bat is not playing well and a move to Triple-A, where Biggio can get regular reps with the Bisons, might just benefit both parties. Down in the minors, the lefty-batter can refocus and get back to his game away from the spotlight while the Jays can call upon another bat, whether it be a player on the 40-man like Spencer Horwitz or Otto López (Addison Barger is on the IL) or potentially go off the board and bring up someone like Jordan Luplow, Rafael Lantigua, Cam Eden, or Ernie Clement to take his spot on the roster. This could also benefit Biggio as he tries to see some increased reps in the outfield as well from a defensive standpoint, a move the 28-year-old expressed desire for earlier in spring training.

Overall, Biggio is struggling right now and it’s getting to a point where the Jays may need to make a move sooner rather than later even with Biggio’s ability to cover multiple positions.