Toronto Blue Jays: Players who have impressed in spring training
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette
It is hard to not be impressed with how Guerrero Jr. and Bichette have performed so far especially with all eyes on them. It certainly got the attention of their teammate Stroman, who believes that both should be in the majors.
That certainly raised a few eyebrows mostly because of Stroman’s insistence on having two unproven prospects make a big jump to the majors without even getting past Double-A. Manager John Gibbons had a perfect response to Stroman’s comments.
Marcus Stroman wants Bo Bichette & Vlad Guerrero Jr. in the majors right now, so John Gibbons jokes... "Did he talk to Donaldson and those guys about that yet?" #BlueJays
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) March 18, 2018
In seven at-bats in spring training, Bichette has three hits, a home run and four RBI, a stolen base to go along with a slash line of .429/.429/.857. He is a raw hitter with some serious pop which he showed off on Thursday night.
Bo Bichette is crushing homers like his dad. https://t.co/CmCD2KeD52 pic.twitter.com/5TrgoaLrV7
— Cut4 (@Cut4) March 23, 2018
For a bigger frame, Guerrero Jr. can move. He has might not be driving in runs but he has been good at getting strong contact. In nine plate appearances, the 19-year-old has six hits, three runs scored, an RBI to go with a slash line of .667/.677/.778.
There is a reason why the son of Vladimir Guerrero was ranked third on MLB pipelines’ top 100 prospect list. His big frame gives him raw power in his swing and a mature approach at the plate rather than always swinging for the fence.
https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/976968924620242944
There is certainly intriguing in what both players could provide to the Blue Jays, in the long run, there is a lot of talent especially at the plate but the organization owes them the chance to grow and mature.
It does help that they have been surrounded by major league players as Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun reported. The veteran players can’t help but feel the need to provide some guidance to the most important pieces of the Blue Jays’ future.
"“They’re awesome,” Bichette told Longley. “They’re really good to talk baseball with and they all do a good job of trying to make us feel welcome.”"
Both players are expected to make the trip to Montreal in the two-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. It will be a nice moment for them to be in front of a big crowd and to see how they deal with that.