While Blade Tidwell may have had an uneven major league debut in Sunday’s 6-5 loss in the St. Louis Cardinals — the first game of a split doubleheader — the highly touted prospect was still able to take in the moment that he’s been thinking about for most of his life.
“It was awesome, indescribable, really. It was everything I hoped for and more,” said Tidwell, who made his debut with the Mets in need of a sixth starter this time through the rotation.
A second-round pick of the Mets in 2022, Tidwell lasted 3.2 innings in his first game in the bigs, allowing six earned runs on nine hits, striking out two and walking three to go along with a hit-by-pitch.
Tidwell’s potential is evident every time he takes the mound. His fastball touched 98 mph, and at times, he was able to spot it on the corners. And while the 23-year-old still has plenty of room to grow, that potential to be a true power arm is impossible to miss for Joe DeMayo’s No. 12 overall prospect in the Mets’ system.
“I think we saw flashes of his potential, especially the life on the fastball, but we also saw that there’s room for development, especially with the secondary pitches,” Carlos Mendoza said after the game. “At this level, you’re going to need pitches to put hitters away, but also you’re going to need secondary pitches to get back in counts. I thought the changeup wasn’t there today with that many lefties [in the lineup]. He flashed a few sliders, a few sweepers, but then he left a couple on the middle of the plate.
“Again, those are some of the things that he’ll continue to work on, but again, we saw flashes of it.”
Tidwell said he did briefly take a moment to soak things in during the game, though he got most of that out of the way during warmups.
“It was awesome. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid,” Tidwell said. “Just to be able to come up here and try to help the team win means everything.”
As expected, Tidwell was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse prior to the second game on Sunday, making room on the active roster for reliever Dedniel Núñez.
When fans can expected to see Tidwell back in the majors is yet to be determined, but the right-hander will always have the memory of making his debut in St. Louis, with members of his family watching in the stands.
“They were all proud of me and gave me a hug,” Tidwell said. “Told me to keep going.”
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