Phillies prospect Biddle eager to pitch in Futures Game
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Reading lefthander Jesse Biddle always takes the mound with supreme confidence, but he conceded that he may have some nervous energy when he participates in the Futures Game on Sunday at New York's Citi Field.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Reading lefthander Jesse Biddle always takes the mound with supreme confidence, but he conceded that he may have some nervous energy when he participates in the Futures Game on Sunday at New York's Citi Field.
Part of Major League Baseball's All-Star Game festivities, the Futures Game features many of the brightest young talents in the minor leagues. Biddle, The Inquirer's No. 1-ranked Phillies prospect, can't wait to take the mound.
"I never pitched in front of a crowd in a stadium that large," he said before Wednesday's Eastern League double-A all-star game. "It will be the first time pitching in a competitive environment in a big-league stadium, and it is going to be really fun."
As usual, he will have a sizable cheering section.
"I will have my family and friends there, and it means a lot to have their support and it is going to make it a little easier," he said.
Biddle, who said he was feeling much stronger after dealing with whooping cough that didn't sideline him but was debilitating, is 3-9 with a 3.33 ERA. He has struck out 107 and walked 49 in 971/3 innings, and despite the won-loss record, has made great strides.
"He really has a good feel for pitching, and there is a big difference from when he was at Lakewood to now at double A," said a major-league scout who requested anonymity. "You saw at Lakewood what he could be and now you are starting to see that being fulfilled."
Biddle doesn't want to use the whooping cough as an excuse, but he said that it did sap his strength.
"It is through adversity you find out how strong you are, and I learned a lot from that illness, and now that I am coming out on the other side of it, it will make me a better player in the long run."
As for the Futures Game, Biddle hopes that he faces his Reading teammate and good friend, third baseman Maikel Franco, who is playing for the World Team.
He said they have given each other some good-natured ribbing about the game.
"He is a competitor and I am, too," Biddle said. "No matter what happens, one of us will come out on top, and I think it is going to be me."
