Brandon Waddell Excited For Return to MLB

Brandon Waddell‘s path to returning to the major leagues is one that’s becoming increasingly common. After making 11 big league appearances over two years with four different teams, the lefty decided to go overseas to help refine his craft. Following parts of three seasons of success (2.98 ERA) in the Korean Baseball League and five starts in the Chinese Professional League, Waddell signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason.

I got the opportunity to ask Waddell a few questions on Tuesday night after he found out he was getting called up by the Mets from Triple-A Syracuse.

On Wednesday, Waddell will pitch in the majors — whether it’s as the starter or as the bulk guy following an opener — for the first time since July 9, 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

“Pitching overseas gives a great opportunity to get a full-season workload in,” Waddell said. “It allows you to get your body accustomed to the innings, while also providing a full season of reps to work on any facet of your game that needs development. The style of baseball played there forces you to learn how to get hitters out in the zone with your pitches due to the level of barrel control that is there. It’s just not nearly as much swing and miss compared to the style of play here.”

The 30-year-old has a 1.54 ERA (fifth-lowest in the league) through his first five starts for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets in a league known for being hitter-friendly. Before going overseas to pitch, Waddell had never had a walks-per-nine innings rate under 3.0 for the season. In the KBO, he went from 3.3 BB/9 in his first season to 2.6 in his second season and, finally, down to 1.3 BB/9 last year. This year, he has a 2.7 BB/9, while the league average is 4.4 BB/9 in the early going.

He’s joined a Mets organization that’s become known for their recent success with getting the most out of their pitchers.

“Pitching in an organization like the Mets has been great,” Waddell said. “You have all the tools you could ever need to improve and enhance your skills. Everyone in the organization is extremely knowledgeable and open to any questions you may have. As a player, you can really see why they’ve had the development success they’ve had.”

In his most recent Triple-A outing (4 IP, 1 ER), Waddell went sweeper-heavy, using the pitch 27% of the time and getting eight called strikes with it. Then, his fastball (26%) of the time, topping out at 93 mph. He also used a changeup (24%) and cutter (20%). In his previous outing, Waddell threw his cutter 42% of the time, so he’s clearly a pitcher comfortable with his entire repertoire who will adjust to that day’s opponent.

After Syracuse manager Dick Scott let Waddell know he was headed back to the majors, Brandon’s family was able to secure some last-minute flights from Houston to be in New York for his Citi Field debut.

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