The Mets are planning to pick out the contract of right-handed pitching prospect Blade Tidwell, as first reported by Daniel Wexler. He’ll be a part of the workforce in St. Louis this weekend. The Mets at the moment have Sunday’s starter listed as TBD, and Mike Puma of the New York Publish experiences that Tidwell will make that begin.
Tidwell, 23, was the Mets’ second-round choose within the 2022 draft. The previous College of Tennessee standout is at the moment ranked amongst New York’s top-15 prospects each at Baseball America and at MLB.com.
The 6’4″ Tidwell is in his second run by means of the Triple-A stage. He’s began the 2025 season with a rough-looking 5.00 ERA however rather more interesting fee stats: a 31.6% strikeout fee, an 8.5% stroll fee, a 38% ground-ball fee and a 0.67 HR/9 mark. Tidwell is averaging 96 mph on his four-seam fastball, up from final yr’s 94.7 mph common, and has seen his swinging-strike fee soar from 11.6% to 14.5%. Fielding-independent metrics (3.17 FIP, 3.79 xFIP) really feel Tidwell has been much better than his earned run common, which is at the moment skewed by a .369 common on balls in play.
Tidwell cruised by means of the low minors earlier than struggling in his first transient stint in Double-A in 2023. He opened the 2024 season at Double-A and breezed by means of opponents in his second go-around earlier than being bumped to Triple-A halfway by means of the yr. He was hit tougher and struggled along with his command in 17 begins there final yr. Even with a 5.00 ERA, this yr’s fee stats counsel that Tidwell is making good points in his second crack at Triple-A, simply as he did in Double-A.
It’s probably that Tidwell’s preliminary name the majors will likely be a one-off. Even with an injury-ravaged rotation that’s seen Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn hit the injured record already, the Mets have 5 wholesome starters in Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. Extremely, all 5 have an ERA of three.06 or decrease. No workforce within the recreation is even near the Mets’ MLB-leading 2.24 rotation ERA.
The Mets at the moment have a full 40-man roster, so that they’ll have to make a corresponding strikes on each the 26-man and 40-man rosters. Outfielder Jose Siri (fractured leg) and left-hander Danny Younger (elbow sprain) are each 60-day IL candidates, so the Mets don’t essentially have to designate somebody for task with a purpose to clear a path for Tidwell’s first huge league promotion.
