Phillies Trade Former First-Round Pick Jesse Biddle to Pirates
Mar 13, 2015; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesse Biddle throws a pitch during the fifth inning of a spring training baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Bright House Field. Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
The Phillies have cut bait on their 2010 first-overall pick. Jesse Biddle has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, per multiple reports. The Inquirer had it first.
The Phillies received right-handed pitcher Yoervis Medina in the deal. Medina, 27, is a three-year MLB vet with a career 3.08 ERA.
Biddle was the 27th overall pick in the 2010 season, a graduate of Germantown Friends who grew up in Mt. Airy. He grew up a Phillies fan and was in the stands for both halves of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series. In fact, he got sick after spending the night in the rain, and wasn’t able to attend the victory parade. When the Phillies announced his signing, he was jocular with the press: “I’m getting the start tonight. Halladay is now the number two.” He was even somehow related — distantly — to Owen Biddle (of Roots fame) and Nicholas Biddle (of Second Bank of the United States fame). This seemed like the best “local boy done good” story in Philadelphia history.
But things didn’t work out in the minors, though Biddle was on several top 100 prospect lists from 2012 to 2014. He had a 4.60 ERA at various levels in 2014 and a 4.95 ERA at AA and AAA last season.
He started out well in 2014 until he was literally caught in a hailstorm and suffered a concussion. It was just one in a series of maladies that befell Biddle.
Jesse Biddle Maladies:
– Concussion due to hail
– Pertussis
– Plantar Fasciitis
– Quad Strain
– Elbow soreness
– Torn UCL— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) February 3, 2016
Yes, Biddle had whooping cough for much of the 2013 season.
Biddle had been designated for assignment last week when the team acquired Bobby LaFromboise off waivers from the Los Angeles Angeles; the Phillies had 10 days to release or trade Biddle as a result.
Biddle finishes his Phillies career with a 3.82 ERA in six seasons in the minors.
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