Cavan Biggio's patience at the plate is absolutely ridiculous

Despite a bit of a slow start, Cavan Biggio’s opening act in the majors is starting to look pretty damn impressive.

The rookie is slashing .233/.378/.517, good for a 140 wRC+ without the kind of batted ball luck to make it even remotely fluky. The only red flag is the high strikeout rate (28.4 percent), but beyond that it’s pretty hard to quibble with anything he’s done with the bat - and it’s too early to meaningfully evaluate his glove, especially since he’s split his time between four positions.

While the overall results have jumped off the page, Biggio has been truly outstanding in one area: his plate discipline. Granted, that’s not the sexiest way to stand out on the diamond, but the 24-year-old’s patience has been truly outstanding and worthy of a closer look.

Biggio posted a 19.5 percent walk rate at Triple-A, and his full season mark at Double-A last year was 17.8, so the 18.9 he’s working on now didn’t come out of left field.

"His decision-making is elite as of now,” Blue Jays hitting coach Guillermo Martinez says. “I saw him a lot as a co-ordinator last year in Double-A when he walked 100 times and I think that will translate."

Although everyone knew this guy was going to take some pitches, the extent is what stands out. Biggio’s raw swing rate sits at 32.9 percent, the fifth-lowest number among hitters with at least 50 trips to the plate. Where things get a little nutty is his chase rate - or the percentage of pitches he swings at out of the zone.

That number is 11.9 percent, by far the lowest out there and lightyears away from the league average of 30.0 percent. Here’s a chart that shows all the pitches Biggio has swung at so far:

For reference, here’s what that exact same chart looks like for free swinging teammate Rowdy Tellez:

Coming through the minor leagues, Biggio prioritized control of the strike zone, because he felt that he was getting himself out more than being bested by opposing pitchers. He got sick of playing into their hands by chasing.

"If I'm chasing that pitch a hair off I'm grounding out to second,” he says. “Or I could take that pitch, be a little more patient and finally find a pitch I can actually drive."

That’s the approach that allowed Biggio to sock 26 round trippers last season in Double-A and get off a roaring start at Triple-A, and continue to produce in the majors. It’s also contributed to high strikeout rates throughout his pro career.

"In the past it's kind of hurt me where with two-strikes it's same thing and I'm still looking for a pitch I can drive,” he says. “Then I'm taking a pitch that's catching the black."

Letting strike three pass him by has been an issue in his first few major league games. Biggio already has nine looking strikeouts to his name, meaning that 42.9 percent of his punchouts have come that way compared to a league average of 23.1. Six of the nine strikeouts fit his description perfectly:

"He hasn't had the luck at times,” Martinez said. “He's been called out on strikes a few times and when you go back to the video they're balls."

Biggio got a couple of tough calls, but there’s also an argument to made that the pitches away are in the “too close to take”category - especially considering the zone tends to expand on pitches outside to lefty bats.

There’s probably a balance to be struck where Biggio manages to remain selective while picking his moments to swing with abandon. We’re arguably seeing that this second as the youngster has slashed .364/.481/1.000 in his last six games.

It may be too soon to determine if Biggio will remain as potent a power hitter as he looks right now, but just 19 games in, it’s already pretty clear that he can leave his bat on his shoulder with the best of them.

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