He’s droll, he’s dry, and Houston’s press corps is in for a rib-tickling treat during post-game interviews with Joe Biagini.

In a deadline trade that may have gotten lost in the hubbub surrounding the Houston Astros’ high profile acquisition of starter Zack Greinke, the AL West’s top team also traded outfielder Derek Fisher to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Cal Stevenson and pitchers Aaron Sanchez and Biagini, a large, right-handed reliever.

Following in Dad’s Lighter Footsteps

Born and raised in northern California, the just-turned 29-year-old was a 26th-round draft pick by his hometown faves, the San Francisco Giants, for whom his father, Rob, pitched in 1981 and 1982 as a 6’4″, 182-pound right-hander. Joe only inherited one dimension from his father, weighing in at a noticeable 235 pounds on his long 6’5″ frame.

Joseph Carlo Biagini (pronounced “Be a Genie”) attended King’s Academy in the San Jose suburb of Sunnyvale, CA, just south of San Francisco. He was a two-way player, doing more hitting than pitching as a first baseman. Graduating in 2008, Biagini attended the Community College of San Mateo, where he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010 before transferring to the University of California-Davis.

The Yo-Yo From Rotation to Bullpen

Biagini, being groomed as a starter, got as high as the Giants’ Double-A affiliate before failing to be added to San Francisco’s 40-man roster. In 2015, for the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels, Biagini hit a career-high 130​.1 innings over 23 appearances (22 starts) and finished the season with a 2.42 ERA and 84 strikeouts.

Left exposed to the 2015 Rule 5 draft, Biagini was nabbed by the Blue Jays and was promptly, and surprisingly, added to the Jays’ 2016 Opening Day roster as a reliever. In his MLB debut, April 8 of that year, he struck out David Ortiz for his first K in a perfect ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox.

Biagini worked to a 3.06 ERA in 2016, with 8.2 K/9, 2.5 BB/9, 0.40 HR/9 and a 52.2 percent ground-ball rate in his 67.2 innings. He added six scoreless appearances for the Jays during the 2016 postseason, giving him some much-valued big-game experience.

With injuries besetting the Toronto rotation in 2017, Biagini was forced into service as a starter, a move both the team and he would eventually come to regret.

A return to the bullpen and a demotion to AAA filled out the back-end of that season for Biagini, but not before a return to the Jays’ rotation in late August. His 2018 season was spent mostly back in the bullpen to a disappointing 6.00 ERA in 72 innings.

Biagini’s 2019 season for Toronto has seen him recover a bit, bringing a 3.78 ERA in his pre-Houston 50 innings. Like most hurlers in 2019, he’s been a little homer-prone but enjoys a career-high 9.0 K/9 against an even 3.0 BB/9 and a 45.3 percent groundball rate. Unlike most Houston hurlers, Biagini is under team control through the 2022 season.

Role With the Punches (and Punchlines)

“Biagini was entrusted with the sixth and seventh innings throughout the 2016 playoffs,” according to Blue Jay Hunter in early 2017, “and he didn’t bend one bit. That may have been an indicator for [manager] John Gibbons as to the ability of Joe Biagini to deliver under high leverage situations.”

Biagini, armed with a mid-90s fastball and an intriguing array of breaking pitches, may find himself in a similar position in Houston’s ‘pen. He’d be tasked to fill a middle innings role with Will Harris, Hector Rondon, Chris Devenski, and Joe Smith, especially while waiting for Ryan Pressly‘s return from the seven-day IL.

Brad Peacock‘s eventual return off the IL, as well as the addition of former Blue Jay Sanchez (a future starter in the long-term, but reliever and spot-starter for now) will also help with bullpen flexibility.

Houston GM Jeff Luhnow, on his latest bullpen adds: “We’ve been interested in Sanchez for a long time, and interested in Biagini for a long time. Quite frankly, we love Biagini. We think he’s got a chance to get some important outs for us the rest of the season.”

“And, What Can We Do For You, Joe the Great?”

Astros’ pitching coach Brent Strom will have a lot to work with, considering the talents Joe brings to Houston: Biagini’s 13.7 percent swinging-strike rate and 36.1 percent batters’ chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone are both career-best marks.

Biagini’s curveball spin rate is nothing short of elite, ranking 21st out of the 399 MLB pitchers who’ve thrown the pitch at least 100 times in data reaching back to 2016.

Look for his curve frequency of 8%, though, to go up when he dons the Astros’ orange. Biagini, of course, is a former Toronto teammate of Houston closer Roberto Osuna, reliever Joe Smith, and infielder Aledmys Diaz.

Deep Thoughts

One thing Joe would like Astros fans to work on while he makes his way to Space City: “Have you ever thought about how many baseballs have never touched the ground?”