Tag Archives: Atlanta Braves

Out of the Pen

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Jesse just passed the 60-day mark for being in the major leagues. You can check out his stats on his MLB page. In brief he’s pitched 28 innings, struck out 30 batters, and has an ERA of 2.54. Those are good numbers for a rookie.

Those of us who follow Jesse and the Atlanta Braves have had quite a ride since he got called up on April 18. As they say, sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear completely shreds your body, soul, and mind. If you start your career out with an errant home run call by an ump against you at a crux moment in a game against the Mets, you have probably already learned the most important lesson there is in baseball: Shit happens … and usually at least one umpire is involved. Continue reading →

Arrival and Dodging a Bomb

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Early April. Warming up in Durham for the Gwinnett Stripers

Jesse Biddle began the 2018 season pitching out of the bullpen for the newly named AAA Gwinnett Stripers (they had been the Gwinnett Braves for a number of years). In four early spring games for the Stripers, he gave up a total of three hits, walked one, and struck out eight. He did not allow a run — earned or otherwise. If you were paying attention last year before he got injured or even during spring training this year, he was more than ready for that final step up to major league competition. It was no surprise that he would begin 2018 able to pitch at such a high level.

So, finally, after more than eight years of hard work and rehab as a professional ballist, Biddle gets the phone call from his AAA manager, Damon Berryhill, and is told that the Atlanta Braves need him to come on up to the Big Time. He’d made it — after a 2013 season with whooping cough and plantar fasciitis; half of the 2014 season recovering from post-concussion syndrome, Continue reading →

Good Times on the Mound: Early Spring Training 2017

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Early bullpen with coach Marty Reed looking on

We’re posting this so that those of you who follow Jesse with a subscription here get a heads up. He is scheduled to throw an inning tomorrow (Saturday, March 4) in his first competitive game since August 2015. It’s just spring training, but still…

Baseball’s a funny game. That inning will be in Clearwater against the Philadelphia Phillies. You can watch it if you are either in the Phillies’ viewing region or have a subscription to MLB.TV. Game time is 1:05 p.m. We don’t know what inning the Braves want him to go in.

Some of us were down in Orlando last week and got to watch Jesse finally throw against live hitters for the first time in 18 months. He faced Nick Markakis, Freddie Freeman, and Matt Kemp in practice. Jesse threw about 15 pitches, mostly in the zone. He looked quite ready to compete. We watched him throw in a sim game three days later as well. Again he looked strong and ready, his motion was loose, free, and easy. No arm pain to speak of, according to him, and as long as he kept the ball down the hitters were struggling to get their barrels on the ball.

We’ll have more to say after tomorrow’s outing in Clearwater. Just wanted those of you who have committed your email addresses to Jesse to know you may be able to catch a glimpse of him in your living rooms this weekend.

Go Braves! Chop On!

Life Before Spring Training 2017: First Stop, Orlando

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Rest for yet another member of baseball’s Tommy John Brotherhood began on October 5, 2016. In early October Jesse was told not to touch a ball until he got the word from the Braves front office. He’d gone through a long season of rehab at the Braves’ facility in Orlando (Tommy John surgery was in October of 2015).

It was a wild ride, to say the least in that part of the world last year: hurricanes, murderous alligators, the Pulse nightclub, and Christina Grimmie. Look it all up. When last year began, Jesse had no idea what was about to happen except that he needed to take care of his elbow and stay in shape.

But the 2016 season began with his trade by the Phillies to the Pirates. That was surprising and frustrating, to tell the truth, but Jesse and the Pirate staff got along great and team executives in the front office were high on what Jesse could do for them once he recovered from his surgery. Alas, the Pirates needed to cover 3rd Continue reading →