Joseph Carlo Biagini (born May 29, 1990) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is currently a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Blue Jays, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs. The

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

selected Biagini in the 26th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2016.

High school and college

Biagini attended The King's Academy in Sunnyvale, California. After the graduation, he attended the

College of San Mateo College of San Mateo (CSM) is a public community college in San Mateo, California. It is part of the San Mateo County Community College District. College of San Mateo is located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley and situated on a 153 ...

and later the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The inst ...

. While attending the College of San Mateo in 2010, Biagini underwent Tommy John surgery. After the 2011 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Brewster Whitecaps The Brewster Whitecaps are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Brewster, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Whitecaps play their home games at Stony Bro ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants

The

selected Biagini in the 26th round of the

. He made his professional debut with the Class-A

Augusta GreenJackets The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina, which opened in April 2018. They previo ...

in 2012. In nine starts with the team, he pitched to a 0–4

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

, 7.41

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), and 36 strikeouts in 34 innings. He was demoted to the Short Season-A

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their hom ...

in June, where he made 14 appearances (12 starts) and pitched to a 2–4 record, 4.27 ERA, and 63 strikeouts in 59 innings. Biagini played the entire 2013 season with the GreenJackets, pitching 96 total innings in 20 starts. He posted a 7–6 record, 5.03 ERA, and 79 strikeouts. In 2014, Biagini was promoted to the Advanced-A

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

, and made 23 starts for the team, finishing the year with a 10–9 record, 4.01 ERA, and 103 strikeouts in 128 innings pitched. He would play the entire 2015 season with the Double-A

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. The ...

and threw a career-high 130 innings over 23 appearances (22 starts). Biagini finished the season with a 10–7 win–loss record, 2.42 ERA, and 84 strikeouts.

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 10, 2015, Biagini was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Rule 5 draft.

Major leagues

On March 30, 2016, manager John Gibbons announced that Biagini had made the Opening Day roster, and would pitch out of the bullpen. He made his Major League debut on April 8, pitching a perfect 9th inning against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

, and struck out David Ortiz for his first career strikeout. He earned his first win on May 3, pitching a perfect 10th inning in an eventual 3–1 walk-off victory over the Texas Rangers. On May 19, Biagini earned his first save, pitching the 11th inning in a 3–2 win over the Minnesota Twins. Biagini did not yield a

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

until September 3, when

Kevin Kiermaier Kevin James Kiermaier (; born April 22, 1990) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Tampa Bay Rays from 2013 to 2022. Kiermaier was part of amat ...

of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

hit a two-run shot in a 7–5 loss for the Blue Jays. Biagini finished his first MLB season with a 4–3 record, 3.06 ERA, and 62 strikeouts in 67 innings pitched. Biagini began the 2017 season in the Blue Jays' bullpen. With injuries and ineffective performances in Toronto's

starting rotation R rabbit ears :Indicates a participant in the game who hears things perhaps too well for their own good. A player who becomes nervous or chokes when opposing players or fans yell at or razz them is said to have rabbit ears. Also, an umpire ...

, Biagini made his first career start on May 7 and held Tampa Bay to a single unearned run on two hits in four innings, leading the Blue Jays to a 2–1 victory. From May to early July, Biagini made 11 starts filling in for the injured Aaron Sanchez and

Francisco Liriano Francisco Liriano Casillas (born October 26, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, ...

. He was then moved back to the bullpen. On August 4, Biagini was optioned to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

. He returned to the major leagues, and the rotation, on August 27, allowing 5 runs over 3 innings in a 7–2 loss to the Minnesota Twins. On September 1, in a game against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, Biagini had his best start as a Blue Jay to date, throwing 7 shutout innings and striking out a career-high 10 batters, though Toronto would eventually lose 1–0 in the 13th. Biagini finished the season splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen, finishing with a record of 3-13 in 44 games, 18 starts. In innings, he struck out 97. Following the signing of Jaime García to be their fifth starter, the Blue Jays optioned Biagini to Buffalo to begin the 2018 season, where he was named the Opening Day starter for the Bisons. The Blue Jays called up Biagini to make a spot start on April 17, for the second game of their doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals. Following the game, he was returned to the Bisons. After returning to the major leagues, Biagini spent the majority of the season in the Blue Jays bullpen, appearing in 50 games while making 4 spot starts. He finished the season with a 4–2 record and an ERA of 6 over 72 innings.

Houston Astros

On July 31, 2019, Biagini was traded to the Houston Astros (along with Aaron Sanchez and

Cal Stevenson Cal Stevenson (born September 12, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. Career Stevenson attended John F. Kennedy High School in Fremont, Ca ...

) in exchange for

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los A ...

. In his first appearance with the Astros, Biagini pitched an inning of relief in a combined no-hitter against the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

. The final score was 9–0. With the 2020 Houston Astros, Biagini appeared in 4 games, compiling a 0-0 record with 20.77 ERA and 4 strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. On September 29, Biagini was designated for assignment. Biagini rejected his outright assignment and elected free agency on October 9, 2020.

Chicago Cubs

On December 17, 2020, Biagini signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs organization. He played with the Iowa Cubs and was temporarily added to the team's roster as a COVID-19 replacement and was removed on October 18, 2021.

Second stint with the Blue Jays

On March 10, 2022, Biagini signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. He was released on July 26, 2022.

Personal life

Biagini's father, Rob, played for the San Francisco Giants organization from 1981 to 1982. In November 2016, Biagini was a member of the audience at a taping of ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

''. During the show, Fallon passed Biagini in the audience and attempted to high-five him along with other audience members, but missed Biagini's hand. During the November 18 episode, Fallon stated that he had taken criticism on

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for botching the high-five, and brought Biagini out on stage briefly to complete their high-five.

References

External links

Profile at UCDavisAggies.com
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Biagini, Joe 1990 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada People from Redwood City, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Toronto Blue Jays players Houston Astros players Chicago Cubs players San Mateo Bulldogs baseball players UC Davis Aggies baseball players Brewster Whitecaps players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Augusta GreenJackets players San Jose Giants players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Round Rock Express players Iowa Cubs players