New food at Citi Field for 2025: Video
New food is unveiled at the What’s New at Citi Field media event on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
ST. LOUIS — With the Mets in the midst of a stretch of 13 straight games without an off day, the front office and club’s leadership has had to get creative to make sure its starting rotation stays fresh early in the season.
The revolving door of spot starts has landed on one of the club’s most intriguing pitching prospects for this weekend’s series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Blake Tidwell, the Mets’ No. 15 overall prospect and No. 5 pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will draw the Mets’ start on Sunday against the Cardinals, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed ahead of the series opener on Friday afternoon.
“He earned it. We know the stuff is there,” Mendoza said. “We saw flashes of it in spring training and the way he’s been throwing the ball, especially lately. Throwing strikes.
“Even though some of the numbers are probably inflated a little bit, but the underlying, he’s throwing strikes, he’s using all of his pitches. When we need a spot start, he put himself in the position and he’s getting the call.”
The 23-year-old righty, who was taken with the 52 overall pick in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft, will be making his major league debut.
Here are three things to know about Tidwell as he toes the rubber for the first time as a member of the Mets on Sunday:
He impressed this spring
One of the highlights of the Mets’ Grapefruit League season came on the opening day of March when Tidwell took the ball for his third ever spring training action against the Rays.
Tidwell looked unhittable against a representative Rays lineup. In the second frame, he turned in an immaculate inning, throwing nine straight strikes and striking out all three batters. He struck out five across two perfect innings in the outing.
Mendoza said the club was impressed by Tidwell’s growth both on the mound and physically coming into the season. Tidwell entered the season standing 6-for-4 and weighing 207 pounds, according to the Syracuse Mets roster.
“He put on some really good weight and you got to give him credit,” Mendoza said. “He worked extremely hard to put himself in a position where he came in and pretty much impressed everyone in camp because of how he was looking physically and how the ball was coming out.
“Then, watching him pitch and continue his development, he is getting an opportunity, and we’re excited about it.”
In six starts this season for Triple-A Syracuse, Tidwell is 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 37 strikeouts in 27 innings.
He’s a hard thrower
Mendoza called Tidwell’s stuff “electric,” and his level of success will come down to throwing strikes.
The 23-year-old Tennessee native touched 99 mph with his four-seam fastball this spring and mixes in a mid- to low-90s sinker to keep opponents honest.
He throws two variations of a slider, including a sweeper, that graded out as his best pitch, according to MLB Pipeline.
Over the past few seasons in the minor leagues, Tidwell has worked on narrowing his arsenal while tinkering with sinker and changeup grips to find out what has worked.
He earned notice with the Tennessee Volunteers
Tidwell put the SEC on notice during his freshman season at Tennessee in 2021 when he amassed a 10-3 record with a 3.74 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 98â…” innings to earn Freshman All-American honors.
He notched a win over LSU in Super Regional play to help the Vols punch their ticket to the College World Series.
As a sophomore, Tidwell missed the opening six weeks of the season with shoulder soreness but ended up posting a 3-2 record with a 3.00 ERA in 13 appearances, striking out 51 batters in 39 innings.
Tidwell spent two seasons along fellow Mets prospect Drew Gilbert, the club’s No. 10 prospect, at Tennessee. Gilbert was drafted by the Astros in the first round as a junior in 2022.