BUFFALO, NY -- Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio are just one step away.

The Blue Jays No. 2 and No. 10 prospects, respectively, made their Triple-A debuts on Thursday and have already brought a newfound excitement to Buffalo.

• Gameday | Blue Jays prospects' stats

Though Bichette was hitless in the Bisons’ 8-3 win, the 21-year-old shortstop walked, scored a run, and drove in another. Biggio went 3-for-4 in the matchup with two hits against two-time All-Star Gio Gonzalez, including a two-run home run off the southpaw.

“Gio’s got 10-plus years in the big leagues, and he’s a very good pitcher,” Biggio said. “He made a couple mistakes this afternoon, and we were able to make him pay for it. But I kind of grew up watching him play, watching him pitch and I was just lucky enough to get a few barrels on him.”

After pulling his first two knocks, the 23-year-old infielder drove a single to the opposite field in his final plate appearance. It was a focus for Biggio, who dropped his hands last year in order to create more power, but became more pull-heavy in the process.

“I made two adjustments last offseason, and then going into this one I just wanted to use the whole field a little bit more,” he said. “Going into the offseason I tried to stay more directional with my swing, front to back versus kind of closing myself off, which I did last year. So with staying more directional, I’m able to use the whole field.”

Through his first three Minor League seasons -- after being selected in the fifth round in 2016 -- Biggio hit .249/.366/.413 with 37 home runs in 321 games. Last year, he was named the Eastern League MVP after helping the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to a circuit championship.

In the same time span, Bichette -- drafted three rounds earlier than Biggio -- hit .328/.385/.521 with 29 home runs, 13 triples, 93 doubles, 57 stolen bases, 204 runs scored and 184 driven in over 263 games. Both believe that growing up around the game -- with big league fathers in Craig Biggio and Dante Bichette -- is what has helped them, and will continue to help them along the way.

“It’s been everything,” Bichette said. “My mom and dad, with both of them being around the game for so long, they’ve taught me a lot about how to prepare, how to hold myself around the older guys and how to be in situations that a lot of younger kids wouldn’t know how to behave.”

Added Biggio: “I was 12 years old when my dad retired, so I was around a lot. My favorite times of my childhood were going to the park with my dad. So being around the game at the highest level, I was able to pick up some things early versus the average baseball player, so experience-wise I had a little bit of an advantage.”

At Double-A last year, Bichette found himself in a bit of a rut for the first time in his young career. In 85 games before the Eastern League All-Star break, he hit .264/.322/.424 with eight homers, 22 doubles, five triples and 46 RBIs, and had stretches where he struggled. In 46 games after the All-Star break, he hit .326/.383/.505 with three homers, two triples, 21 doubles and 28 RBIs.

“Last year I had spans where I didn’t feel like myself for the first time,” the No. 11 prospect in all of baseball said. “At the time, it sucked. I didn’t like it too much but looking back on it, it was everything I needed to be ready to be in the big leagues. It was a blessing in disguise, and it’s been huge for me. …

“It taught me that it happens, so you just have to try to keep on working hard and keep on staying true to yourself. I think I got away from myself and that’s what made it tough to get out of those times where I didn’t feel good. So it was big for me to learn that, because it’s going to happen again.”

No one in the Bisons clubhouse has any doubts about the team’s top prospects, and even on Opening Day, there’s a sense of confidence they’ve already instilled.

“Biggio, he’s going to hit; Bo, he’s going to hit; they looked good,” Blue Jays No. 11 prospect Anthony Alford said. “I didn’t think they were pressing, especially being their Triple-A debuts. I thought they did a really good job of staying calm and still being selective, and having good at-bats.”

Alford added two hits of his own in the matchup, scoring a run and driving one in, after a week that saw him called up and sent down by Toronto twice already.

“I’ve known it, this is just my first time experiencing it,” Alford said of the business of baseball. “I’m not the first person it happened to, probably won’t be the last person it happens to, but it’s the nature of the beast. It happens, and unfortunately I had to be the one to go through it this time.”