The Toronto Blue Jays begin a four-game interleague series with the Atlanta Braves Monday, and Joe Biagini is already fretting about something he’ll have to do during his scheduled start in Atlanta Wednesday.
The reliever-turned-starter is going to have to swing a bat in the majors for the first time.
“I can’t imagine it’s going to go very well,” Biagini jokingly told Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker on Baseball Central Monday.
As a way to cope with this unfamiliar endeavour, Biagini might take a unique approach to his plate appearances.
“I think I’m going to draw my own on-deck circle,” he said. “That’s part of the plan and it’s probably going to be behind the dugout somewhere. I’m thinking about bringing a glove up there instead of a bat just in case.”
If John Gibbons gives him the signal to bunt?
“I’ll put on my bunting face and I’ll go out there and stand near the plate and make it happen.”
Biagini’s only real professional experience as a batter was in 2015 when he had 20 at-bats in 23 games with San Francisco Giants’ double-A affiliate, the Richmond Flying Squirrels.
He had two hits for a .100/.182/.100 batting line.
“I had a brief little moment of shining brilliance in double-A and then before that it hasn’t been for a while,” Biagini said of his history swinging the lumber.
The 26-year-old righty has an ERA of 2.28 in 16 appearances, including two starts, for the Blue Jays in 2017.
He received a standing ovation after his most recent outing, a start in which he threw five scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners.
Biagini will throw opposite Mike Foltynewicz on Wednesday.
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