Mets 2025 Prospects: No. 15 Blade Tidwell

No. 15: Blade Tidwell, RHP

B/T: R/R Age: 23 (6/8/2001)
Height: 6’4″  Weight: 207
Acquired: Second round of the 2022 draft out of the University of Tennessee
ETA: 2025
2024 Stats: Triple-A Syracuse: 85 IP, 19 G (17 GS), 5.93 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 77 SO, 53 BB – Double-A Binghamton: 37 1/3 IP, 7 G (5 GS), 2.41 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 44 SO, 11 BB

Overview

The Mets selected Blade Tidwell in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft and sent him to the Florida Complex League for an inning, then he finished the year with Single-A St. Lucie for an eight-inning stint – par for the course for most pitchers drafted out of college.

Tidwell began the 2023 season in High-A with the Brooklyn Cyclones, putting up a 3.09 ERA over 81 2/3 innings while striking out 112 batters and walking 46. This dominance would see him promoted to Double-A Binghamton for the end of the season, where he hit his first professional road-bump, putting up a 4.72 ERA over 34 1/3 innings and striking out 41 but walking 17.

The 2024 season was expected to provide a chance for Tidwell to solidify his prospect stock, entering the season as one of the more highly-ranked pitching prospects in the organization. He started the year strong in Binghamton, pitching to a 2.41 ERA over 37 1/3 innings and striking out 44 batters while walking 11. Based on this, the Mets promoted him to Triple-A Syracuse, which left him on the doorstep of a promotion to the majors.

Tidwell regressed in a major way from a statistical perspective, as almost all Mets pitching prospects have so far upon hitting Triple-A. He would pitch to a 5.93 ERA, walking 56 batters and striking out 77 while allowing 17 home runs. This was the first time in Tidwell’s career that he failed to strikeout at least a batter an inning at any level.

The story with Tidwell is he has a deep pitch mix, with some evaluators crediting him with throwing seven distinct pitches: A four-seam and two-seam fastball, a gyro-slider and a sweeper, cutter, changeup and curveball. With such a repertoire, and a fastball that lives in the mid-90’s with huge IVB and tops out at 98 mph alongside a huge slider that at present could make him a bullpen candidate, it is difficult to see at first glance why he struggles.

However, upon looking at each season, the same issues seem to keep appearing with his lack of control. The Triple-A ABS system did not do him any favors and forced him to throw more in the zone, but his below-average command left his pitches in poor locations, and thus he was hit hard.

2025 Outlook

Tidwell will look to work with the Mets pitching lab and possibly refine and rework his arsenal, potentially scrapping the curveball all together and focusing on where and when he should throw certain pitches. Up to this point, he has gotten by on his outstanding stuff and not had to rely on pitch sequencing. While having a deep well of pitches to go to can be beneficial, he may be best suited by trimming it down to five and learning when it may be best to throw certain pitches.

In a worst case scenario, he makes sense as a bullpen candidate, where his lack of control and command will not be as prominent and he can just let it fly while narrowing his arsenal even further. Tidwell will start the 2025 season in a loaded Triple-A rotation that could include Brandon Sproat, Dom Hamel and 2024 surprise Jonathan Pintaro.

Previous Ranking: No. 16 SS Trey Snyder

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