Author Archives: Admin

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 →

One Inning and Miles to Go: Braves vs Phillies Spring Training 2017

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Pitching against the Phillies, spring training 2017.

One of baseball’s quirks is that players have to take everything  — EVERYTHING! — one pitch at a time. Doesn’t matter if you’re hitting, fielding, catching, running the bases, or pitching. That quirk gets its completion in the fact that players are judged over the long haul. Statistics show the results of one pitch at a time over the course of six or seven months. Or even one pitch at a time for years and years and years.

Yesterday, Jesse Biddle came back after 555 days of dealing with a torn elbow ligament — resting, surgery, rehab and extremely patient ramping up — to finally get some time on the mound 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 →

A New Start: Pirates and Rehab in 2016

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JTB-First Pirates Head Shot photoshoppedYou could make a movie worth watching about almost every young guy who gets a chance to become a professional baseball player. It’s not easy trying to make it to The Show. Heck, it’s not easy moving up from AA ball. Few players just fly through the minor leagues without going through some crazy tough times. Jesse Biddle’s struggles these past three years have been interesting, to say the least. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Right?

It seemed like it was going to be an uneventful 2016 for him living down in Clearwater and working to get back on track after October Tommy John surgery. Up until about two weeks ago. Then Jesse got a call from the Phillies front office saying they were designating him for assignment (DFA) and taking him off the 40-man roster. They needed the spot to pick up left-handed relief specialist Bobby LaFromboise off the waiver wire.

That was a bit of a difficult thing to swallow. It meant Jesse was being re-assigned to full minor Continue reading →

The Pitcher’s Elbow: Tommy John Surgery and Life on the Edge of the Knife

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Throwing for the Pigs - July 2015

Throwing for the Pigs – July 2015

Years ago, Jesse heard scouts tell him that the career of all special athletes inevitably means periodically having to deal with serious injury and/or illness. “When you make your living with your body, things happen.” The best advice he was given is not to think or worry about injury, even though you know it’s an inevitability. There are always bumps in the road no matter what you do. You deal with them all the way to the end of your journey. Success will come when success comes.

Jesse got closer in 2015 to his ultimate goal of getting called up to the major leagues. But he had to Continue reading →

Steady As She Goes

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Bacon and Eggs Night at Coca-Cola Park.

Bacon and Eggs Night at Coca-Cola Park.

We’re waiting a bit to report on how competition is going for Jesse. There’s no question he’s figuring out how to pitch as an IronPig now. It’s all about experience and learning … and, of course hard work.

He has his third AAA game tonight (July 22) at Coca-Cola Park against the Toledo Mud Hens. It should be an interesting and somewhat ironic evening. The first team Jesse ever played for in Tee-ball when he was six was called the Mud Hens. He was a star and very concerned about the competition whenever he knew he was facing a team with seven-year-old studs on it.

So, officially, tonight is “Bacon and Eggs Night” at Lehigh Valley. We get to see Jesse decked out in a bacon uniform for the first time. Mmmmm! Bacon!

See you out there.

Working on Stuff: Adding Sinkers and Sliders to the Arsenal

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Green Night at Reading (Credit: Tug Haines)

We note this all the time, but minor league baseball is about working on your game and developing into a well-rounded player. For starting pitchers, that means seeing what you can do with more than just a straight fastball and breaking ball.

After the first few games of the 2015 season, Jesse Biddle gradually went to work on seeing what he could do with two-seam fastballs (sinkers) and the slider that he’s been throwing Continue reading →

2015 Baseball Season Underway in Reading: Finding the Groove and Walk-Off Wins

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Reading Fab Five (l to r): Zach Eflin, Ben Lively, Jesse Biddle, Tom Windle,

Reading Fab Five (l to r): Zach Eflin, Ben Lively, Jesse Biddle, Tom Windle, Aaron Nola (Source: Reading Eagle)

Jesse Biddle’s first 2015 home start was last night (Saturday) in front of a Reading crowd of about 7,000, with a slight breeze and game time temperature in the 70s. It was deemed the match-up of the night by many minor league prognosticators around the country. Biddle was going head-to-head with the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ Kyle Crick, the San Francisco Giants’ #1 prospect. Crick has electric stuff. Continue reading →