Scouting Report

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Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Tidwell teamed with Ryan Weathers to lead Loretto HS to the Tennessee state Class A championship in 2017 and a runner-up finish in 2018. Now in his second year at Tennessee, Tidwell could join Weathers (selected No. 7 overall by the Padres in 2018) as a first-round pick, though he missed the first six weeks with shoulder soreness and took another month before rejoining the weekend rotation. In his college debut, he won 10 games (second-most in school history for a freshman behind R.A. Dickey), including the super-regional clincher over Louisiana State that sent the Volunteers to the College World Series for the first time in 16 years. 

Tidwell can light up radar guns with a fastball that parks at 93-96 mph and tops out at 99 with some arm-side run, though it also straightens out and gets hit when he doesn't work up in the strike zone. He has a full array of secondary pitches, led by a low-80s slider that hits 88 mph and features sweep and some depth. His sinking low-80s changeup generated the best swing-and-miss rate (39 percent) of any of his offerings in 2021, and he'll also drop in a mid-70s curveball to give left-handers a different look.

After adding 20 pounds to his 6-foot-4 frame since arriving in college, Tidwell does a good job of maintaining his stuff deep into games, and he still has room to add some more strength. He throws strikes but needs to improve the consistency and command of his pitches. While he didn't have a fully healthy or dominant 2022 season, he still could join Dickey as the only Volunteers pitchers ever taken in the first round. 

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Cutter: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

Tidwell became a must-follow pitcher after a strong freshman season at Tennessee in 2021 but was limited to only 39 innings as a Draft-eligible sophomore a year later due to shoulder issues. He still struck out 51 batters, and the Mets selected him in the second round in 2022, signing him above slot for $1.85 million. After helping Single-A St. Lucie win a Florida State League title later that summer, Tidwell split his first full season between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton led the system in strikeout rate (31.4 percent) and average-against (.208) over 116 frames. 

The 6-foot-4 right-hander touched 98 mph during his Double-A time and generally sat in the 94-96 range. Since his early days in Knoxville, he’s improved the ride of the four-seamer to the point at which he aims for an average of 18 inches of induced vertical break, and that’s helped him rack up K’s on pitches up in the zone. His low-80s sweeper moves 13-20 inches horizontally but stays on plane similar to a cutter, eliciting his highest Double-A whiff rate, and he has a true cutter in the upper-80s as well. Tidwell worked on a new changeup grip in 2023 that helped kill the pitch’s vert, but its control remains a work in progress and Eastern League lefties feasted on him as a result. An upper-70s curveball gives another breaking option that can bleed into the slider look but is a distant fourth pitch in terms of usage. 

Tidwell’s stuff pops, but he needs to find the zone more often to make the most of it. His 12.9 percent walk rate was highest among Mets Minor League qualifiers last season. The fastball-slider certainly would play in the bullpen, but considering the former Vol is only entering his second full campaign, he still has time to prove his starting capabilities.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

A high school teammate of Ryan Weathers in Tennessee, Tidwell went to school in Knoxville and became a pitcher to watch entering the 2022 Draft after posting a 3.74 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings as a freshman in 2021. Shoulder issues limited him to only 39 frames with the Volunteers the following spring, but he returned and showed enough stuff to strike out 51 in 39 frames during a nearly special season for Tennessee. The Mets happily grabbed Tidwell in the second round and went above slot to sign him for $1.85 million. The hurler finished out the year with Single-A St. Lucie, where he made a pair of postseason starts on the club’s way to a league championship.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander pushed himself up the Mets' prospect ranks by using a 94-96 mph fastball that touched 98 mph in the Florida State League -- a promising sign after the spring shoulder problems. His mid-80s slider breaks hard over two planes and instantly wowed New York officials as his second plus pitch -- one he threw nearly as often as the heater late in his time in Florida. Tidwell also works in an upper-70s curveball to give him a more vertical breaking ball and a low-80s changeup with sink.

Though he had some control woes in his early days with St. Lucie, Tidwell generally has solid control of his four-pitch mix out of his over-the-top delivery and should command everything well enough to stay in a starting role. He added 20 pounds in college and could continue to tack on even more strength as he moves up the chain toward Queens, adding to the belief that there may be another jump in stuff coming.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Tidwell teamed with Ryan Weathers to lead Loretto HS to the Tennessee state Class A championship in 2017 and a runner-up finish in 2018. In his second year at Tennessee, Tidwell missed the first six weeks with shoulder soreness and took another month before rejoining the weekend rotation. In his college debut, he won 10 games (second-most in school history for a freshman behind R.A. Dickey), including the super-regional clincher over Louisiana State that sent the Volunteers to the College World Series for the first time in 16 years. The Mets liked the right-hander’s stuff enough to take him in the second round this July and signed him above slot at $1.85 million.

Tidwell can light up radar guns with a fastball that parks at 93-96 mph and tops out at 99 with some armside run, though it also straightens out and gets hit when he doesn't work up in the strike zone. He has a full array of secondary pitches, led by a low-80s slider that hits 88 mph and features sweep and some depth. His sinking low-80s changeup generated the best swing-and-miss rate (39 percent) of any of his offerings in 2021, and he'll also drop in a mid-70s curveball to give left-handers a different look.

After adding 20 pounds to his 6-foot-4 frame since arriving in college, Tidwell does a good job of maintaining his stuff deep into games. He still has room to add some more strength. He throws strikes but needs to improve the consistency and command of his pitches. 

Transactions

Team	Date	Transaction
	05/21/2024	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to Syracuse Mets from Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
	03/07/2024	New York Mets Prospects activated RHP Blade Tidwell.
	03/01/2024	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to New York Mets.
	07/31/2023	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to Binghamton Rumble Ponies from Brooklyn Cyclones.
	07/31/2023	Binghamton Rumble Ponies activated RHP Blade Tidwell.
	04/03/2023	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to Brooklyn Cyclones from St. Lucie Mets.
	04/03/2023	Brooklyn Cyclones activated RHP Blade Tidwell.
	08/16/2022	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to St. Lucie Mets from FCL Mets.
	08/16/2022	St. Lucie Mets activated RHP Blade Tidwell.
	08/09/2022	RHP Blade Tidwell assigned to FCL Mets.
	07/27/2022	New York Mets signed RHP Blade Tidwell.
	03/01/2022	RHP Blade Tidwell and assigned to Tennessee Volunteers.