Day 8 Bullpen. Throwing to Andrew Knapp.
Jesse Biddle has had a great spring training this year. His game was honed and razor sharp fairly quickly and he reported having quality bullpen sessions from the start. As the photo above shows, by the end of Week 2 the Phillies pitching brain trust was paying close attention to his side work. He got a fair amount of support with positive statements to the press by Ryne Sandburg, Bob McClure, Dan Plesac, and others. Continue reading
Spring training 2015 is underway for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jesse Biddle has been working hard along with David Buchanan and Mario Hollands (and all their teammates). We’ve been getting inside reports on how things are going down in Clearwater. There’s a lot of positive, can-do Phillies going about their business down there. Watch the video below for a taste of that positive.
On the other hand, media and fan thinking is probably not as positive as it could be. Hopefully, folks will change their tune once the season gets underway. There are so many great young players to watch.
Besides Biddle, Buchanan, and Hollands, you’ve got Domonic Brown, Cody Asche, Maikel Franco, Cameron Rupp, Ben Revere, and a whole bullpen of young pitchers tutored by one of the greatest closers of the last generation — Jonathan Papelbon. Will Chase Utley’s knees hold up for 162 games? Is Ryan Howard, who came into camp super healthy, going to remind everyone why he was once the most feared hitter in the National League?
Ryan Howard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Only time will tell. Just remember, Phillies fans, you’ve been asking for a team that’s younger. Young players take time to develop. They’re here, now. Watch them and cheer from them. You may be surprised.
And take it from us, they’re all champing at the bit to get going in 2015. Hopefully, you are too…
Spring training games start on Sunday. Phillies against University of Tampa. Buchanan and Hollands throw on Tuesday’s game against the Yankees. Jesse is on the mound next Saturday against the Blue Jays.
Warming up as always in far right field. Saturday night, August 16, 2014. Knee feeling fine.
Jesse was set to make his comeback in Reading on Saturday evening, August 16. After seven-weeks of rehab, it was likely we were going to see something interesting. Not only had he just proven to the Phillies that he is still all that and then some with two excellent performances in Clearwater during the 10 days prior, but the Fightin Phils were facing the Binghamton B-Mets with rehabbing pitching great, Daisuke Matsuzaka, on the mound. Yes, folks, the legendary, 34-year-old Japanese phenom, Dice-K facing off against little Jesse Biddle.
Jesse got his chance to show how hard he’d worked in July and the first part of August. But it was an inauspicious night for him, too. After warm-ups where he looked Continue reading
On the mound again in Clearwater. (Source: BaseballBetsy.wordpress.com)
This is one of those times it’s far better to read an eye-witness account than our distant musings. Baseball Ross provides personal reports on minor league baseball at his blog written mostly out of Clearwater, Florida. If you want to know what’s really happening in the minor leagues (especially in the Phillies’ organization), this is one of the best sources of information we know of. Baseball Ross calls it as he sees it. Not much supposition and hearsay (like most so-called journalists out there). If you’re a Jesse Biddle fan, you’re going to enjoy reading this one.
Jesse Biddle overmatched the Daytona Cubs last night. It was just that simple. He pitched like he belonged at Citizens Bank Park not Clearwater’s Bright House Field. Aaron Nola had a nice debut with Reading but is was not as impressive.
With a low 90’s fastball, the change up and the big curve, Biddle kept the left-handed dominated D-Cubs lineup off balance. He retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced, allowing only a base on balls in the five innings he worked. He struck out …Read The Rest Here…
You should also check out the thoughts of Baseball Ross’s better half, Baseball Betsy. She ran a great piece on Jesse’s Wednesday night herself here.
(Source: Walt Hilsenbeck)
There’s an old Fire Sign Theater line: “If you push something hard enough, it will fall over.” The Fire Sign guys make this statement as if it were a universal truth. But they weren’t thinking about young athletes when they said this back in the early 1970s. Another view might be: “If you push something hard enough, it will get stronger.” Jesse Biddle’s pitching schedule has been a bit intense for most of this Continue reading
Jesse’s next outing for Reading has been shifted from Saturday night to Sunday at 5:05 p.m. (5/4) due to a rainout in Portland yesterday. The Fightins play their arch rival, the Harrisburg Senators. Pitchers hit!
Jesse’s next probable start after Sunday would be Friday night in Trenton against the Thunder, less than an hour’s drive from Philly.
See you out there. Dress warm. Stay for the whole game. Fightin Phils relief pitchers can be fun to watch.
Thanks to Walt Hilsenbeck for this photo.
Two weeks ago, Jesse had pitched in three games, registering an ERA of 5.10 and a record of 0 – 2. The pundits speculated that he was struggling. Those of us who know him understood that he was still trying to find his groove on the mound. Statistics are an interesting thing: they tell you very little about what’s going to happen next Tuesday. The numbers are only about what has already happened. It’s never been clear what part probability should play in baseball — and yet, of course, somehow the numbers mean everything to all of us.
In his past two starts Jesse has only allowed one earned run and given Continue reading
On the mound in April. (Source: Tug Haines/Reading Fightin Phils)
After struggling some in Harrisburg last Sunday, Jesse was on the mound again Friday night against the Senators, but this time in Reading. And this time he had spent four days working on focus and command. Sometimes at the start of the season it takes a few games for pitcher’s to get the right feel on the mound. It seems that Biddle had the right feel last night.
He has been very quick to point out Friday night’s 6-2 win with 11 strikeouts Continue reading
Source: Reading Fightin Phils’ Facebook Page
Jesse pitched on Tuesday night in front of a very sparse crowd in Reading. It was his old nemesis, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Here’s the line: 7 innings, 93 pitches, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk, 6 hits, 4 runs, 1 home run. The Fightin Phils would win 6-5 with a walk-off single by Anthony Hewitt in the bottom of the 9th.
A couple blog posts out there say Jesse had a “rough start” and/or was “shaky.” Apparently they weren’t at the game. Yes, he gave up two singles in the 3rd with one out and then left a change-up hanging, belt-high for a three-run homer. He would also allow a single to lead off the 6th, then a one-out triple. Tough innings happen.
Other than the 3rd inning, though, he pitched a good game. Even in the 3rd Continue reading
Source: Jay Floyd, phoulballz.com
The season began for the Reading Fightin Phils last week. Jesse got the opening night start. We’re sure he felt he could have pitched better. He got the loss and only went 3.1 innings. You can read about that game here.
Suffice it to say that after a crazy spring training he’s still working out some kinks in his feel for pitching. But, to be honest, that’s what going to minor league games is about. You are getting a firsthand look at young players working on their games and battling through the learning process.
Jesse is scheduled to pitch again tonight, April 8, 2014, against the New Continue reading
