A BETTER FIT
Blue Jays lefty Joe Biagini is putting up better numbers now that he’s back in the bullpen,
Little about Joe Biagini is straightforward.
From the time he burst onto the scene as a Blue Jays reliever in 2016 — giving a memorable interview after his first big league win that May by touching on the Raptors, scratching his nose, pre-game finger painting exercises, the scent of Justin Smoak’s bat amidst answering questions — the 28-year-old reliever has been known as much for his off-field quirks as his onfield play. You never know which way an interview is going to go with Joe.
Life on the mound has been equally complicated for Biagini, who spent much of the last year working on becoming a starter. But after he couldn’t find the consistency necessary to be part of the rotation, he’s back in the bullpen.
His last start for the Jays, his fourth of the season, was on May 20; in those outings, he never lasted more than 5 2/3 innings, giving up 17 runs — 16 earned — off 26 hits for a 7.71 ERA.
In sixteen appearances since returning to the ’pen, Biagini has a more palatable 4.79 ERA. He has started to look like the guy the Jays relied so heavily on in 2016, giving up one run off nine hits, walking three and striking out eight in his last 11 innings. His ERA in that time? 0.82.
“We figured it would probably take a little time, and it did, to convert him back,” manager John Gibbons said recently. “But he looks like he did a couple of years ago and that’s very valuable to us. His stuff’s better and he’s proved that he can be a good reliever.”
Gibbons continued: “I think he’s just in the role he needs to be in, come in for an inning or two, whatever it is, and just cut it loose. I think that’s what he’s meant to be.”
Biagini takes that as a compliment. He knows a starter needs to be effective, and knows he was unable to do so consistently.
The encouragement he received from the organization in spite of his struggles means a lot to him; he knows potential breeds opportunity, and considers himself lucky to have both.
“I’m trying to focus on something I can do well. Pitching is hard in any capacity, going back and forth’s hard, sticking in one role’s hard, bullpen’s hard, starting’s hard. It’s all tough and so I feel like a role that is thought highly of, that would fit me, in an organization is something that I can be excited about,” Biagini said.
“Honestly, I don’t even know if I would ever want to try starting again. I might. If I get that opportunity I probably wouldn’t say no but I know that there’s maybe certain things that I’ve learned that I’m better suited to do.”
Thinking back to the opportunities he has been afforded, it’s clear to Biagini that something is working in his favour. “That doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed for everything to go right but when you think about, ‘Oh man, my baseball career, shucks it didn’t work out, that didn’t go right, that’s unfair.’ It’s like, no. That’s not not fair,” he said.
“You’ve been given all of these unbelievable, incredible opportunities. Getting kind of candid, growing up a white, tall, male ... that’s a lot of advantages, right? And then I’m healthy, I have a nice family and then to throw on top of that the baseball thing, where I get to make it to the major leagues ... it’s like if this would have been an absolute disaster, well, the cherry on the top was rotten. Aw, darn. But I had the whole cake.”
In the bubble of the Jays clubhouse, Biagini has succeeded, failed, worked hard and sacrificed.
And he will continue along that path as long as he is afforded the opportunity.
“It gives you a little hint of an insight into how to deal with things in life and I think that I’m — I would hope that I’m a more well-adjusted person because of this experience.”