Joe Biagini hopes to become a teammate of Roberto Osuna in Toronto when 2016 rolls around. The two pitched against each other at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver on August 2, 2012.
The Blue Jays have selected righthander Joe Biagini from the San Francisco Giants in the Rule 5 draft.
Joe Biagini hopes to become a teammate of Roberto Osuna in Toronto when 2016 rolls around. The two pitched against each other at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver on August 2, 2012.
Joe Biagini gets ready to deliver a pitch for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes against the Vancouver Canadians.
Joe Biagini was selected in the 26th round of the 2011 amateur draft by San Francisco after pitching for the University of California-Davis. He began his pro career the following season with the Augusta GreenJackets of the South Atlantic League where he lost all four of his decisions and posted an earned run average of 7.41. The lone bright spot was a seven-inning outing when he shutout Lexington on two hits and two walks while striking out four on May 28 but got a no-decision. His K rate per nine innings was a solid 9.5 but that was largely offset by a walk rate of 7.9.
Biagini was then sent to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the Northwest League where he began to experience more success. After getting his feet wet with a couple of one-inning scoreless relief appearances, he put together a quality start against Vancouver July 5 in which he struck out nine over six innings but took the loss despite two earned runs on four hits and a walk. He followed that up with a 10-strikeout performance against Everett but he surrendered four runs over six frames to take the loss. The Menlo Park, California native made another appearance against Vancouver in August and it was a short one, coughing up a pair of first-inning runs before getting the hook. His mound opponent that day was Roberto Osuna, who was making his maiden voyage on a Canadian mound. It was not a great day for Osuna either as he was cuffed around for four runs over three innings in an eventual Vancouver victory. Biagini would finally get his first pro victory in his next outing against Spokane August 7 and would beat Spokane again 15 days later with six shutout frames of five-hit ball and eight strikeouts. The biggest difference for the 6-foot-4 hurler was chopping his walk rate by five while maintaining a K rate of 9.6. He ended his time with Salem-Keizer with a mark of 2-4 and a 4.47 ERA.
The 2013 season saw Biagini return to Augusta where he went 7-6 with a 5.03 ERA. His K rate fell to 7.5 while his walk rate checked in at 3.9. Highlights from that season include seven strikeouts over six shutout frames against Kannapolis April 21, seven blank innings versus in a win over Savannah May 17, nine whiffs over 6-2/3 innings of one-run ball against against Hickory May 29 and another nine-strikeout outing against Asheville in a seven-inning appearance of three-run ball July 22.
Biagini was promoted to San Jose in 2014 and went 10-9 with a 4.04 ERA. His K rate dipped slightly to 7.2 but the BB rate was chopped down to 3.2. He began the year with six shutout innings in Lancaster April 7, the first of 11 quality stars he had with the SJ Giants. He finished up strong in August with three straight quality outings, including a 10-strikeout effort against Modesto where he took the loss despite yielding a pair of runs over six frames.
The 2015 season put Biagini on the map by recording an ERA of 2.42 while winning 10 of 17 decisions with the Richmond Flying Squirrels of the Eastern League. In a quirk of the schedule, he never made an appearance against New Hampshire so his two appearances against Vancouver in 2012 remain the only time he has faced a Blue Jays affiliate. His hit rate fell to 7.7 per nine innings, nearly a decrease of two, and he cut down his walks to 2.3 per nine. The tradeoff was a downturn in his strikeout rate, which fell to 5.8. He put up 14 quality starts and started his campaign with six shutout innings against Altoona April 13. His longest outing was eight innings when he shutout Harrisburg on two hits and a walk while ringing up seven batters in a road victory June 16. He was sidelined in early August with a back injury but he finished up strong upon his return by posting three quality starts in which he limited the opposition to a run apiece over a combined 20 innings. He did a nice job of handcuffing left-handed hitters to a .194 batting average versus a .251 mark against righties.
Joe Biagini has a record of 29-30 with a 4.06 earned run average in his four-year minor league career.
Baseball America's Josh Norris had this to say about Biagini.
"He got a little love from one manager for his ability to work his FB/CB combo and ability to command the bottom part of the zone. The Giants have an excellent ability to turn unsexy prospects into major leaguers, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him in the bay at some point."Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins on Biagini via The Toronto Star.
"He has a three pitch mix, fastball, curveball, changeup. He’s a guy that jumps a little bit more subjectively, than objectively, but still has a lot of interesting elements."Biagini's fastball according to various reports is said to check in about 91-94 miles per hour. If that's not enough, he's also the subject of this unique video. Biagini has to stay on the Blue Jays' 25-man roster in 2016 or be offered back to San Francisco. There's also the possibility the two sides can work out a trade so Biagini can go back down to the minors for more seasoning. He will turn 26 on May 29.
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