Why Did the Dodgers Add Cavan Biggio?

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
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Ever since the Los Angeles Dodgers placed Max Muncy on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain on May 17, they have struggled to find stability against right-handed pitching at third base. Muncy doesn't have a definitive timetable for his return either.

Enter, Cavan Biggio.

The 29-year-old batted just .200 with two home runs and nine RBIs in 44 games this season before he was designated for assignment on Friday. After spending parts of six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, he battted .227 with 48 home runs and 176 RBIs in 490 career games.

The son of Hall of Famer Craig Biggio has played every position on the field expect pitcher and catcher. He is the Dodgers' best option to split time with Kiké Hernández at third base until Muncy returns.

Hernández, a right-handed hitter, has performed better against left-handed pitching this season while Biggio, a left-handed bat, tends to do better against right-handed pitching. Their splits led the Dodgers to pull the trigger on Biggio creating a platoon at third base.

“To get some coverage vs. right-handed pitching, running him out there at third base is sort of the plan,” Roberts said. “If I have to kick him out, whether it be to center, to right, second base, during a game for whatever reason, (if) the game calls for it, we can do that. But yeah, it’s primarily just a play at third base vs. right-handed pitching.”

Meanwhile, Muncy took ground balls again Wednesday and made throws across the infield but there remains no timetable for when he might start swinging a bat.

Biggio went 1-for-3 in his Dodgers debut on Wednesday night.


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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite growing up in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer at the LA Sports Report Network.