KANSAS CITY -- The next generation of Blue Jays players has officially arrived as Bo Bichette, the shortstop of the future, made his Major League debut in Monday night's 7-3 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Bichette, who started at short and went 1-for-4, singled in his first Major League at-bat off right-hander Brad Keller in the second inning.

¡°My dad said, ¡®Congrats BoBo, you¡¯re a big leaguer,¡¯¡± Bichette said after the win. ¡°That was cool.¡±

The introduction of Toronto¡¯s No. 1 prospect and the No. 8 prospect in baseball, adds to the early-season excitement brought already by the debuts of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio, but the highly-anticipated arrival of the 21-year-old Bichette feels like a new beginning for a squad in need of rejuvenation.

¡°It feels that way, now that Bo¡¯s here,¡± manager Charlie Montoyo said before the series opener. ¡°That¡¯s what I love about the job -- the kids, the player development side of seeing guys get better. ... It¡¯s fun to watch the kids. It¡¯s a good day for the Blue Jays.¡±

Bichette¡¯s father, Dante, was a big league outfielder for 14 seasons, earning All-Star selections with the Rockies in 1994-96, and ¡¯98, and pacing the Majors in hits twice, RBIs once as well as winning the National League home run crown with 40 in ¡¯95. The younger Bichette joins Guerrero and Biggio as the third legacy player on Toronto¡¯s Major League roster.

¡°This is something we¡¯ve been talking about for a few years now, being up here together,¡± Bichette said. ¡°Obviously, they¡¯ve had a month or two under their belts, but I¡¯m happy to join, happy to get it rolling and see what we can do.¡±

Climbing the Minor League ladder together, the trio envisioned their future together with the Blue Jays, looking forward to what they wanted to do when this day came.

¡°Bringing a lot of wins,¡± Bichette said. ¡°Me, Vladdy, Cavan, we all work pretty hard. We play pretty hard. We have an idea of what we want to be in this game and the type of things we want to accomplish.

¡°And one of those things is win a World Series, so that¡¯s something we always talked about -- man, we can get up there and create a culture and create an atmosphere that¡¯s fun to be around and win games. That¡¯s what we¡¯re going to try and do, so hopefully we can start it today.¡±

Added Biggio: ¡°We could see the writing on the wall with the stuff that we were able to do in the Minor Leagues, and the way the organization was moving, with a bunch of young guys coming up. We all saw it as a good opportunity for us to come up and shape out what we were going to do in our time here.

¡°We all knew it was going to be something special.¡±

Bichette hit .275/.333/.473 with eight homers and 16 doubles in 56 games with Triple-A Buffalo this season. The native of Florida led the Eastern League in hits, doubles, extra-base hits, runs and total bases last season, all as the league¡¯s second-youngest position player, and he paced the Minors with a .362 average in 2017.

At the same time his career in the Majors begins, the game officially said goodbye to a shortstop who made an incredible difference in Bichette¡¯s life. Bichette believes that while he might have learned some of the same lessons he gleaned from Troy Tulowitzki when the 34-year-old shared a clubhouse with his father, it was the recently retired player who helped Bichette reach the Majors by the same day Tulowitzki held his final conference call.

¡°He meant a lot,¡± Bichette said. ¡°I may have figured out some things I learned from him along the way, but I definitely know that the work ethic, the determination, the focus, and the will to get better every day, and the will to help others get better -- that type of stuff he did for other people and what he did for himself -- when I was 14 years old watching him do it every day, it was something that always stuck with me.

¡°That year was the time I realized, man, I¡¯m good at baseball and I want to work as hard as Tulo to get there. I¡¯m sure I would have figured out the work ethic at some point, but I might not have figured it out as early as now. I might not be in the big leagues at 21. I owe a lot to him, watching what he did and the way he treated me.¡±

Unlike Tulowitzki, the question with Bichette has typically been about his defense, stretching back to his Draft year, but the Blue Jays have been pleased with the strides he¡¯s taken as a shortstop recently. He¡¯ll slot in next to Guerrero at third base, which will give the Blue Jays one of the most offensively talented young duos in baseball.

¡°There was a time in my career where I didn¡¯t know if I¡¯d ever play a big league game at shortstop,¡± Bichette said. ¡°So to know I¡¯m going to do that tonight is huge, but it¡¯s just the first step. I¡¯m really excited to be here and playing and everything, but as excited as I was, I kind of see it like I can¡¯t wait until these first few days are over so I can get on my journey, get going.¡±