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Philadelphia Phillies: Could Jesse Biddle Be Ready to Make His Major League Debut This Season?


 

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Although he pitched just 1.1 innings in the MLB Futures Game, 21-year-old prospect Jesse Biddle showed every bit of why the Philadelphia Phillies have always been so high on him.

He struck out fellow Reading Fightin Phillies teammate, Maikel Franco of Team World, after entering the game out of the bullpen in the fourth. He continued to pitch another hitless inning, effectively neutralizing some of the best prospects in the game.

For Biddle, who walked away as the winning pitcher, it must have proved to be a sigh of relief. Easily the Phillies’ top pitching prospect, Biddle has up a bit of an up and down season. He has just a 3-9 record and a 3.33 ERA, which is high for him. But Biddle has still been just as lethal with his fastball and incredible arsenal of secondary pitches, striking out 107 Eastern League batters in just over 97 innings pitched. He has also given up just 70 hits.

So while the numbers don’t point to such a high ERA, Biddle has struggled this season with control and consistency. He has walked 49, which again is a very high number for the young and hopefully future ace. But the potential is there and at the Futures Game, certainly showed as bright as it has in the past.

The question that remains however is if Biddle is ready for the majors? The young and incredibly insightful pitcher himself, was quoted as saying, “That’s why they have Minor League baseball. That’s why I think baseball’s the best sport in the world because you need that. You need four or five years of adjustment and getting your rhythm and your timing and figuring all your mechanics out. That’s why it’s such an amazing sport.”

This is Biddle’s third year in the minor league system.

But at this point, the Phillies do have a relatively successful starting staff that leads the league in quality starts. With playoff positioning possibly still on the line, would it make sense to rush Biddle? Also, would that be the best move considering that the starting staff is one of the strengths of this team?

While Biddle very well could be ready, it wouldn’t be wise to promote him just yet. Perhaps, he will get a shot at Triple-A this season and perhaps, he will be in the starting staff next season.

Marilee Gallagher is a Philadelphia Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. You can follow her on Twitter @MGallagher17 like her page on Facebook, or join her network on Google+

 


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