Tidwell rumbles through bats for Binghamton

Returning to Double-A Binghamton for 2024, Blade Tidwell has opened the year sharp.

The Mets’ No. 10 prospect carved through 21 1/3 innings in April, posting a 1.69 ERA with 27 strikeouts, but his first outing of May almost threw him off track in his torrid start.

In his pregame warmup, Tidwell didn't throw a strike. He noted it was the "worst bullpen" before a game he had ever thrown, altering his tone before a regular start.

"I usually don't talk a lot when I pitch," Tidwell said. "And I was walking in, and I smack [catcher] Matt O'Neill on the butt and said, 'It can't get any worse than that.'"

Tidwell didn't put a lot of weight into his errant bullpen. He got loose, made a joke and turned in his most efficient start of his professional career.

Entering the season, Tidwell had never finished the eighth inning of a start in his professional career, but behind a season-high 94 pitches Saturday, the righty eclipsed that mark against Hartford. The Tennessee product tossed a career-high eight scoreless innings, collecting nine punchouts and striking out the side in his final frame en route to a 2-0 victory at Mirabito Stadium.

After striking out Braxton Fulford to start the eighth inning, Tidwell ran himself into a jam, issuing a six-pitch walk and yielding a first-pitch bunt single. As trouble brewed with a passed ball advancing both runners into scoring position, Tidwell locked in.

The righty fanned Zac Veen three pitches later before collecting his ninth and final strikeout in a five-pitch bout with Bladimir Restituyo to preserve the lead and end his afternoon scoreless while surrendering five singles and issuing a pair of walks.

"I knew I had a chance to finish the game," Tidwell said. "They were putting it in play earlier. I wasn't getting a lot of late counts. ... At the end, they forced my hand, getting runners on second and third with one out. I knew I had to get a strikeout."

Tidwell amped up his strikeout count in his final four innings. After just three strikeouts in five shutout frames, the 6-foot-4 right-hander tripled his total from the sixth inning on, firing 72 strikes in the contest -- marking a career-best 76.6% strike rate.

"I think all starting pitchers would agree that pitching out of the windup is a lot better than the stretch," Tidwell laughed. "It's a lot less stressful, too. If you don't throw a lot of pitches out of the stretch, a lot of times you're not quite as sore the next day. So it was nice that I limited the damage, and my defense played a heck of a game."

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With a solidified five-pitch arsenal entering 2024, Tidwell threw four of his options for first-pitch strikes. He strengthened his command of his new pitches, adding a cutter to the mix for his second turn through Double-A. It's become a bridge pitch from his four-seam fastball to his sweeper, allowing him to tunnel it off both pitches.

"I think my usage on it is twice as much as my slider this year, which really helps out because my sweeper would technically by my highest-graded pitch analytically," said Tidwell, who generated 20 swings and misses Saturday. "But having that bridge pitch I can strike a lot really puts them off the sweeper when I do throw it."

Through five appearances -- three starts -- this season, Tidwell is first among qualified pitchers in ERA (1.23) and WHIP (0.85) in the Eastern League and second in strikeouts (36). The 2022 second-round pick has carved out a cleaner start to his year with the Rumble Ponies after making eight starts in a late-July promotion to Double-A last summer.

"I want to get through the season healthy," Tidwell said. "And if I pound the zone with my stuff, I like my chances."