Skip to main content

Biddle Staying Positive Despite 0-4 Start

By
Jesse Biddle, last year's 1st round draft pick by the Phillies, is off to a less than ideal start to his first full season of professional baseball. Currently part of the starting rotation for the 2-time defending South Atlantic League champions the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws, Biddle has yet to earn his first win of the season, through 5 starts.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 235-pound lefty has posted a 0-4 record and a 5.91 ERA. But the failure to date has not soured the outlook of the smiley faced kid from Philadelphia.

"I don't think (my confidence level is effected) at all," Biddle said. "I had a much better outing last time. It just kind of sucks when all your hard work isn't panning out the way you want to."

Biddle allowed just 1 earned run in 5 innings pitched against Savannah in his most recent outing on Monday night, and walked just 2 while striking out 4, but still got stuck with a loss, when his BlueClaws teammates couldn't muster up much offense and fell by a score of 3-1.

His strike out to walk ratio is an alarming 19:14 in 21 1/3 innings pitched thus far in 2011. Adjustments normally wouldn't be what the doctor ordered for Biddle, but when his difficulty throwing strikes lasted and his walk rate stayed high, he worked with his pitching coach Steve Schrenk to refocus and fix the issue.

"The big thing was to go back to the basics," Biddle stated. "I think I was starting to over-complicate things a little bit. After having a couple bad outings, I really started to feel pressure a little bit and over-thinking things. My focus became just to throw to the (catcher's) glove and not worry about the batter or the baserunner...and that's what we were working on in the bullpen (sessions)."

Despite the slow start, Biddle is living the dream...pitching in the minors with an opportunity to develop into a Major Leaguer with the club he grew up adoring, his hometown Phillies. Always an optimist, Biddle won't let a bit of a losing streak ruin his outlook.

"I'm exactly where I want to be and I'm just going to start having some better starts now."

______________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Labels:

Comments

joenose said…
He'll get it together. It's a shame he didn't get any run support Monday night, he had a good outing. But that too is part of the game. Jesse is a level headed guy. He'll be fine!!!
May 3, 2011 at 11:19 PM
Anonymous said…
PhoulBallz leaves out the 4th inning standoff on Monday night. Runners on the corners, no outs. The kid didn't fold and battled hard to get the next three hitters out. That was as good an opportunity to show what you're made of as any I've ever seen.
May 4, 2011 at 4:42 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rappers in Phillies Caps

By
Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...
3 comments
Read more

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

By
On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com
Post a Comment
Read more

The PhoulBallz Questionnaire

By
This week I came up with a quick questionnaire and asked 10 Phillies phans, 9 of which are Phils partial season ticket holders, 10 questions ranging from survey type inquiries to statistical trivia. My goal was to survey both genders in varying age groups. I spoke with 3 season ticket holding 50-something males. I spoke with 2 season ticket holding 30-something females. I spoke with 2 teenage males whose father is a season ticket holder (for the purpose of this small project, they've been counted as season ticket holders in the 9 out of 10 total). I asked a 25 year old male season ticket holder and a 30-or-so year old male season ticket holder. And lastly, I asked a 28 year old non-season ticket holding die-hard Phils phan. The questions are mostly Phillies oriented, with some generalized baseball trivia mixed in. Have a look at the questionnaire. See how you do, but don't research the answers that you may have a hard time with. 1- Name a Phillie who wore #4. 2- Name a ...
4 comments
Read more