JUPITER, Fla. — Blade Tidwell’s first appearance in a big league spring training game sure was eventful.
The 22-year-old loaded the bases with none out before retiring three straight Friday afternoon, with an inning that included a wild pitch, a bunt single and a groundout that almost wasn’t an out when Tidwell forgot to cover first base.
“Whenever I was told yesterday that I was doing this today, I kind of got a little bit nervous,” Tidwell said after the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “But then, I think by being nervous yesterday I just accepted it and I kind of saw it as another game over here today. I mean, obviously, the stakes are a little bit higher over here than on the backfields, but all in all, I thought that I wasn’t that uncomfortable out there.”
The way he finished the inning showed that he wasn’t that uncomfortable. A couple of runs on some soft contact isn’t bad for a debut, but the nerves were evident at the start of the inning.
Jordan Walker led off the inning and struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch. Alec Burleson then singled to center field and Jose Fermín singled on a bunt to load the bases.
Dylan Carlson sent a base hit to the right side to score Walker. Then came Paul Goldschmidt, who made weak contact with a check swing on the first pitch he saw — a changeup — sending a slow roller to first baseman Pete Alonso.
Alonso fielded the grounder cleanly and went to throw over to Tidwell at first, but Tidwell wasn’t at first base. He was halfway between first and second, looking unsure of where to go. Alonso directed him to first base and he made the catch for the out.
Tidwell thought someone was already at first base.
“I felt like it was about 10 or 12 seconds, but I’m guessing it wasn’t that long,” Tidwell said. “But it was just an awkward play. I mean, he hit it off the literal knob of his bat. And then I got snapped back into it real quick when Alonso yelled at me to get to first base.”
Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner visited the mound to calm him down. Hefner, who is known for his calming effect on pitchers, told him to relax and throw strikes. Tidwell told him, “Yes sir.”
He then struck out Nolan Gorman and Nolan Arenado to end the inning.
“I knew it couldn’t get much worse,” Tidwell said. “So I just figured I might as well throw some more strikes and see what happens.”
Tidwell is ranked the 10th-best prospect in the Mets’ system by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America ranks his slider as the best in the system. The Mets drafted him in the second round of the 2022 draft out of Tennessee, where he played college ball with another one of the club’s top prospects, outfielder Logan Gilbert.
MARTE’S BIG DAY
Outfielder Starling Marte doesn’t think he has anything to prove this season. Despite the injuries that limited him last season, he’s confident that he can be the same player at the plate and in right field that he was in 2022.
He looked the part Friday, reaching base on a drag bunt in his first at-bat. In the bottom of the inning, he nailed Carlson at third on a 9-5 double play. He then made the final out of the inning.
The speed and defense are still there, just as he said they would be.
“Pretty good,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “I saw him take in infield/outfield a couple of days ago at home and the way he was throwing the ball to third base home plate was good, and then for him to make that throw today was pretty impressive. He laid a bunt down and got down the line. That’s good to see since that’s part of his game.
“It was a good game for him.”
UP NEXT
The Mets will be back at Roger Dean on Saturday when Sean Manaea makes his first Grapefruit League start. Two top pitching prospects are also slated to pitch Saturday with right-handers Christian Scott and Mike Vasil on the schedule, as well as bullpen candidates Jorge Lopez and Michael Tonkin.
