Brandon Apter (@bapter23), Publishing Editor
There is no beating around the bush with Jesse Biddle. The former Phillies first round pick, who was designated for assignment lat week, has been nothing but a disappointment and this past season was no exception. After surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow this past October, Biddle will not pitch until at least 2017. He'll wait to see if any team takes a chance on him on waivers, but he knows that his recent step back will likely keep teams from taking a chance. If he passes through waivers, he'll likely stay on with the Phillies organization and hope to contribute when he can in 2017. Biddle understood the move to designate him for assignment, especially with the team constantly looking for ways to add young talent to the mix.
"I think in the back of my head I was always a little worried about it because this is not a good time to be hurt when the organization is obviously making a lot of moves to get younger by picking up a lot of prospects. It's not a great time to be unable to contribute anything."
"It hurts, but I'm not stupid," he said. "I was not going to be able to help the team the entire year. I totally understand. I haven't really performed consistently the last couple years and nobody understands that better or is more frustrated about that than I am." [Philly.com Sports]
Up until 2013, Biddle seemed to be on track to join the Phillies at some point in 2014, but injuries and other issues, including needing a mental break from the game in 2014, kept the former first rounder from becoming what everyone hoped he'd be, an ace in the Phillies rotation. This past season, Biddle began the year at Double-A for the third straight season and he didn't blow anyone away, posting a 4.24 ERA in 15 starts before the Phils decided to promote him to Lehigh Valley. The move didn't pay off, as Biddle imploded with the Ironpigs, going 2-4 with a 6.25 ERA in just nine starts. In his final five starts, he went 0-4 with an 8.03 ERA.
In Biddle's conversation with Bob Brookover of Philly.com, he said that throughout the year he was pitching through elbow pain, but didn't know what it felt like to have serious damage.
"I guess at the time I didn't really know what it felt like to have serious ligament damage in your elbow," he said. "I didn't really know what was safe and what was unsafe. It turns out I was pitching with ligament damage for a good part of the year.
"I was making a really bullheaded decision to continue to pitch. My velocity kept going lower and lower and I was not making a mature decision. I was being really stubborn and it was completely my fault." [Philly.com Sports]
The 24-year-old left-hander admitted that he kept pitching through the pain because he felt as if he was so close to the big leagues. That came to bite him as the damage in his elbow worsened as the season progressed and now he will not get a chance to pitch until 2017.
Biddle's situation is a bit of a head-scratcher from the Phillies. Throughout his time with elbow pain, it wasn't mentioned at all if he was examined by team doctors or had any x-rays or MRI's to see if there was anything wrong, despite gradual lack of velocity and command issues. Biddle said that it was his decision to keep pitching, but if he was a valued asset to the Phillies at all, should they have investigated his condition more before it got to the point of him needing surgery?
In 133 games in the Phillies system, 132 starts, Biddle was 40-45 with a 3.81 ERA.
