The New York Mets’ farm system is very top-heavy, particularly on the position player side. Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez are already on the big-league roster while Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio may join them there by the end of the season. The prospect pool hasn’t been as robust on the pitching side due to trades and repeated injuries to Matt Allen, leaving Blade Tidwell as the top pitching prospect to watch in the Mets’ farm system. That is a good reason to make Tidwell the focus of this week’s edition of Minor League Mondays.
The Mets drafted Tidwell in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Tenneseee, their third pick in the class. There was no doubt that Tidwell had the talent to be a first-rounder but injury concerns pushed him down a round. Those issues didn’t bother the Mets, who signed Tidwell to an above-slot bonus to add him to their minor league system. Tidwell spent last summer with Low-A St. Lucie and pitched well, recording a 1.93 ERA in five appearances and helping them win the Florida State League.
The next step for Tidwell was to begin 2023 with High-A Brooklyn, an assignment that has led to a bit of an adjustment period for him. Tidwell is 0-1 with a 5.56 ERA in his first three starts for Brooklyn, striking out 16 batters in 11.1 innings pitched but also struggling with his command by walking seven batters in that same span.
MLB.com’s prospect rankings have Tidwell as the Mets’ seventh-best prospect and their highest-rated pitcher so there is a ton of promise for him. Tidwell has a four-pitch arsenal headlined by a fastball that can touch 99 miles per hour and a wipeout slider, but he will need to develop either his curveball or changeup into a more effective third pitch to stick as a starter at the big league level.
The Mets figure to be very patient with Tidwell, who should get plenty of time at Brooklyn to figure out how to pitch to more advanced competition. The best-case scenario for Tidwell would be for him to get into a groove and earn a promotion to AA Binghamton by the end of the year. Given the advanced age of the Mets’ current rotation and few options ready to help at the upper levels of the minors, getting Tidwell ready to pitch in the majors is a high priority for the current regime.
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