Tag Archives: Spring training

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!

Second Post for Spring Training 2015: Biddle Sharp But Still Optioned

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Day 8 Bullpen. Throwing to Andrew Knapp.

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 →

First Report from Spring Training: A Bit of Media Coverage for Those of Us Not in the Sun

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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

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.

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Feet Wet and Ready to Throw on Sunday Afternoon

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(Photo Credit: BaseballBetsy.com)

(Photo Credit: BaseballBetsy.com)

Jesse Biddle’s been in Big League Camp for about 2 weeks now. He’s getting advice and support from everyone from Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard to Kevin Frandsen and Cliff Lee. From what we can gather, he’s learning an immense amount about the game and what it means to be in a major league dugout.

On Tuesday, he started and threw two innings in the annual intra-squad Continue reading →

Test Flight Tomorrow: A Few Innings of Intra-Squad

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The Phillies reported yesterday that Jesse will be one of the starting pitchers to take the mound tomorrow afternoon in Clearwater in the Phillies intra-squad game that will kick off spring training games for 2014. Ethan Martin will start as well. Other pitchers to get innings will be David Buchanan, Justin DeFratus, Luis Garcia, Jeremy Horst, Cesar Jimenez, Shawn Camp, and Kenny Giles.

As the interview, above, with Chuck Bushbeck shows, Jesse’s been ready to go and Continue reading →