Tidwell Provides Breath of Fresh Air in First Big League Win

Blade Tidwell was originally scheduled to start Wednesday night’s game against the Brewers. However, Carlos Mendoza opted to use Huascar Brazobán as an opener, with Tidwell working as the bulk pitcher. Coming out of the bullpen for his second straight appearance, Tidwell provided some much-needed length and turned in the best outing of his young big league career, earning his first major league win.

Tidwell began his outing by striking out the red-hot Brice Turang on an up-and-away fastball. After issuing a one-out walk to Rhys Hoskins, Tidwell induced fly-outs from Anthony Seigler and Joey Ortiz to retire the side. After the Mets staked Tidwell to a 5-0 lead, he allowed a lead-off walk to Eric Haase to begin the third inning. The 24-year-old fell behind 3-1 to Sal Frelick before getting him to fly out to Tyrone Taylor, then needed just four pitches to retire William Contreras and Christian Yelich to end the frame.

Tidwell continued to pitch to contact in the fourth inning, getting Jackson Chourio to pop out and getting an easy grounder from Turang. Hoskins roped a two-out double, but Tidwell got Seigler to ground out to Pete Alonso on the next pitch to side-step any trouble. Tidwell dodged traffic again in the fifth inning, giving up a one-out single to Haase before Brett Baty made a sliding catch in foul territory to set down Frelick. The righty engaged in an eight-pitch battle with Contreras, ending it by ringing up the two-time All-Star on a knee-high fastball. Tidwell began to fatigue in the sixth, giving up back-to-back homers to Yelich and Chourio to lead off the frame. Tidwell struck out Turang looking for his third strikeout of the night, but his night ended when Hoskins followed with a single off the glove of Ronny Mauricio. Hoskins later came around to score on a groundout by Ortiz.

“It was kind of how we mapped it out today,” Carlos Mendoza said in his postgame interview. “He was huge today, I thought the fastball had life, I thought the secondaries, the slider, the sweeper, threw strikes, and when he got behind, he came back and made pitches when needed, so I thought he was really good.”

While he’s been a high-strikeout pitcher in Triple-A this year, Tidwell was effective without getting many swings and misses on Wednesday. He generated just three whiffs on 19 attempts – two on his four-seam fastball and one on his sweeper. His fastball velocity of 95.4 miles per hour was slightly lower than his season average of 95.8, though he topped out at 97.9. Seven of Tidwell’s 13 outs were recorded in the air, compared to three on the ground.

“It’s something you dream about your whole life,” Tidwell said about earning his first major league victory. “To go out there and do it is an unbelievable feeling.”

Last week, Mendoza said Tidwell was expected to take the rotation spot of the injured Griffin Canning. However, the rookie is ticketed back to Syracuse to make room for a couple of fresh arms. Perhaps Tidwell could transition to being a reliever – hitters have gone 11-for-22 against him after he’s thrown his 50th pitch in the game. Wednesday’s outing was a big step in the right direction for Tidwell, even if his line wasn’t super pretty.

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