Phillies traded former 2010 first round pick Jesse Biddle to the Pirates in exchange for 27-year old Venezuelan relief pitcher Yoervis Medina. The Phillies drafted Jesse Biddle 27th overall in 2010 MLB Draft out of Germantown Friends High School and it was shaping up to be a nice story about a homegrown kid getting a chance to achieve his dreams with his hometown team. Sadly Biddle, never made it to the majors with the Phillies due to hitting a lot of bumps in road from various injuries among other things. The Phillies front office finally decided it was time give the 24-year old a change of scenery and a fresh start.
This past Friday, Phillies designated Jesse Biddle for assignment after claiming lefty reliever Bobby LaFromboise from the Angels. In doing this, the Phillies had 10 days to trade Biddle, release or waive him. Biddle could have possibly passed through waivers and been outrighted to the minors, but the Phillies thought shipping him away was best. After spending what felt like an eternity in Double-A, Jesse Biddle finally climbed up to Triple-A at the tail end of last year. He struggled mightily in nine starts posting a 6.25 ERA in 44 2/3 innings pitched with 32 strikeouts and 27 walks. 2016 will be a lost year for Biddle, who is recovering from Tommy John Surgery and if any team can fix him, it’s the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage is a pitching guru known for fixing pitchers such as Arquimedes Caminero and former Phillie J.A. Happ just to name a few.
As for Yoervis Medina, he spent three years with the Mariners appearing in 141 games posting a 2.82 ERA in 137 innings pitched with 140 strikeouts and 75 walks. Since then, Medina has bounced around a bit spending time with the Cubs then being claimed waivers by the Pirates before ultimately being traded to the Phillies. He will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee and can definitely battle for one of the spots in the Phillies bullpen.
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