Cavan Biggio joins pops in the baseball record books with cycle

Toronto Blue Jays rookie Cavan Biggio hit for the third cycle in team history on Tuesday, joining his father Craig in the elusive club.

Cavan Biggio had the best night of his young Major League career in Baltimore on Tuesday, and he made a little bit of history while he was at it.

Biggio hit for the cycle in the Blue Jays’ 8-5 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards, becoming the third Blue Jays batter to pull off the feat. Jeff Frye did it in 2001, while Kelly Gruber had the first one in 1990.

Biggio finished the game 4-5 with four RBI. He also stole two bases and is now hitting .230 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI in his first 89 career games. He’s the first player to have two stolen bases in a cycle since Charlie Moore in 1980.

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A look through the list of players to perform the rare feat in baseball history will reveal a familiar name. Biggio’s Hall of Fame father, Craig, did it for Houston in 2002. The Biggios join Gary and Daryle Ward as the only father-son duo to both hit for the cycle. Daryle did it for the Pirates in 2004, 24 years after his father pulled it off for the Twins.

Craig wasn’t in Baltimore to see his son put his name in the record books, and Cavan says his father won’t spend too much time talking about it afterward.

“I’m not sure. I’m not quite sure,” he told Sportsnet after the game when asked what his father’s reaction will be. “I think my dad, you know, he’s very stoic when it comes to me playing and whatnot. I know he’s very proud but I think when we’re on the phone he’s going to talk about how cool it is then back to see how everyone else is doing.”

Biggio got his night started with a 409-foot home run to straightaway center field off Orioles starter Chandler Shepherd in the third inning. He singled on a ground ball through the hole between first and second base in the sixth inning before doubling down the right-field line in the eighth.

Coming to bat in the top of the ninth needing a triple to complete the cycle, Biggio took a 96 m.p.h. fastball from Mychal Givens on a 3-2 count to center. Mason Williams nearly came up with the catch but crashed into the wall. As left fielder Stevie Wilkerson rushed to back up the play, Biggio took off at full speed for third, even pushing an umpire aside. He managed to beat the throw and slide safely into third, capping off his historic night.

Biggio is the 18th player in MLB history to hit for the cycle within his first 90 games and the first since Cody Bellinger in 2017. He’s the sixth player to do it this season, joining Jorge Polanco, Shohei Ohtani, Jake Bauers, Trea Turner and Jonathan Villar.

Biggio is just one of the young stars that have come up to the big leagues for the Blue Jays and immediately made an impact. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. put on a show in the Home Run Derby after his much-hyped debut, while Bo Bichette had his own record-breaking introduction to the Majors.

Both of them have the chance to do what Cavan and his father have now done. Dante Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Sr. hit for the cycle in their careers, so Biggio might not be the only Blue Jays rookie to one day put their name alongside their father in baseball’s record books.