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Blade Tidwell

Latest On Mets’ Rotation Plans

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The Mets’ season-worst losing streak stretched to six games with tonight’s 7-1 defeat in Atlanta. Clay Holmes was unable to escape the fifth inning, and the Mets turned to righty Justin Hagenman to work the final 2 2/3 frames in mop-up fashion. Hagenman had been the likeliest choice to start tomorrow’s series opener against the Phillies, necessitating a change of plans.

As first reported by Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, New York will now turn to Blade Tidwell opposite Zack Wheeler. They’ll need to recall the 6’4″ righty tomorrow afternoon. It’ll be the second MLB appearance of his career. The Mets called up the former second-round pick for a spot start against the Cardinals on May 4. He gave up six runs in 3 2/3 innings to take the loss and was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse the next day. Tidwell, one of the better pitching prospects in the organization, has worked 62 1/3 innings over 13 Triple-A appearances this season. He carries a 4.76 ERA but has punched out nearly 28% of opponents against a 9.5% walk rate.

This is likely to again be a one-off appearance. Frankie Montas has been on a minor league rehab assignment since May 24. Pitchers can spend up to 30 days on a rehab stint before they need to be activated (unless they suffer an injury setback). Montas’ rehab window closes on Monday, at which point the Mets need to put him on the MLB roster.

Manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed before Thursday’s game that Montas will be in the rotation (link via Tim Britton of The Athletic). That wouldn’t have seemed in doubt at the beginning of the rehab stint. The Mets signed Montas to a two-year, $34MM free agent deal. He would’ve opened the season in the middle of the rotation had he not suffered a significant lat strain early in Spring Training. The results on his rehab stint have been dreadful, however.

Montas has allowed more than 12 earned runs per nine innings over six rehab starts: two in High-A, four in Triple-A. Teams generally don’t place much stock in a player’s stats while he’s rehabbing. The primary focus is on getting healthy. Yet Montas’ struggles have been so significant that the Mets must be at least a little concerned. He has allowed more than a run per inning in three of his four Triple-A outings. Opponents have combined for a staggering eight home runs in 14 1/3 innings. He gave up five runs on seven hits (including one homer) while striking out only two of 23 batters faced against Miami’s top farm team on Wednesday.

The results certainly don’t suggest he’s ready to face MLB hitters, but the Mets are out of time on the rehab stint. There was some thought that they could activate Montas as a reliever, at least allowing Mendoza to deploy him in low-leverage situations as he tries to iron out his mechanics. That might have been the plan had they not lost Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill to the injured list within the past week. “Look, we need starters here,” Mendoza acknowledged to reporters. “We signed him to be a starter for this team, and we’re going to give him a chance.” That likely positions Montas to make his team debut early next week when the Mets welcome the Braves to Citi Field.

It was just eight days ago that the Mets were reportedly receiving interest in Paul Blackburn because it was unclear if they’d have room for him as a starting pitcher. New York had pushed their lead in the NL East to a season-best 5.5 games that same afternoon. Now, they’re tied with the Phillies as they head into this weekend’s series at Citizens Bank Park. Blackburn looks like a short-term rotation fixture behind Holmes, David Peterson and Griffin Canning. Montas will slot into the fifth spot after getting bombed by minor league lineups.

While things have gone downhill quickly, there’s more cause for optimism in the medium term. Sean Manaea, who has been out all season due to a Spring Training oblique strain, has been on a rehab assignment since June 6. His numbers are also poor, but that’s not as concerning when a pitcher is shaking off the rust very early in a rehab stint. He’s around two weeks away from an MLB return. Senga has a low-grade hamstring strain. He could resume throwing by the end of the month and return in mid-July if all goes well. The news on Megill is less encouraging, as he’ll miss at least 4-5 weeks with an elbow sprain.

The front office will have a little more than five weeks to see how their injured pitchers progress and gauge what they can get out of Montas before deciding on trade deadline priorities. Jon Heyman of The New York Post wrote this evening that they’re likely to be involved in the rotation market once July 31 approaches. That’s true of almost all contending teams, of course. The next month will go a long way to determining their sense of urgency to add a starting pitcher.

Mets Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In Luis Robert Jr.

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10:15am: Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that there is “nothing hot” between the Mets and White Sox regarding Robert as things stand, though he goes to acknowledge that the Mets have “checked in” on him previously and that center field could be an area the club has interest in upgrading.

9:15am: White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. has long appeared to be the club’s most obvious trade chip for the 2025 season, and a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale last weekend suggested that Chicago may be motivated to move Robert before the end of May if he were to continue playing well throughout the month. Robert has gone just 4-for-19 at the plate with one walk and five strikeouts since that piece was published, but today Nightengale reports that teams have begun to show interest in Robert with the Mets among the clubs to have checked in.

The 27-year-old could certainly make plenty of sense in Queens. Robert’s offense has left much to be desired over the past two years, as he’s slashed just .215/.282/366 with a lackluster 82 wRC+ across 137 games since the start of the 2024 season. That’s essentially a full season’s worth of games where Robert has struck out at a 32.6% clip and hit just 19 homers, though he has walked at a solid 8.3% clip and stolen 38 bases in that time while serving as a capable defensive option in center field.

While Robert’s recent production isn’t exactly exciting, it’s impossible to deny his talent. Staying healthy has always been a question for Robert, but he offered star-level production when on the field from 2021 to 2023 with a .287/.331/.511 (129 wRC+) slash line and 10.6 fWAR in just 311 games. That’s a four- to five-win player over a full season, and while his recent downturn in production makes expected a five-win campaign like his 2023 season somewhat unrealistic, it’s worth noting that Robert’s been hurt badly this year by a .244 BABIP that falls well below the career norm for a player who’s never posted a figure below .300 before in a season. A look at Robert’s solid .326 xwOBA would suggest that his underlying performance this year is more or less in line with the production he put forward in 2022, when he slashed .284/.319/.426 with a wRC+ of 111 in 98 games.

That sort of production would be extremely valuable for a Mets club that already lost its starting center fielder in Jose Siri for the first half of the season due to a fractured tibia. That’s left Tyrone Taylor to handle center field duties in Queens, and while he’s been serviceable with a .249/.295/317 (90 wRC+) slash line, he’s not exactly been an impact player for the Mets and lacks the superstar upside Robert offers. Center field is one of very few holes in New York’s lineup; the club is only ranked below average by both fWAR and wRC+ at three positions so far this year: second base, left field, and center field. Brandon Nimmo is entrenched in left and has wound up above-average at the plate in each of the last eight seasons, while second base is covered by a combination of Luisangel Acuna, Brett Baty, and Jeff McNeil. None of those names have firmly grabbed hold of the everyday job at the keystone to this point, but that depth of options makes an external addition seem unlikely.

That leaves center as the obvious place for an upgrade, and the pickings at the position figure to be slim this summer outside of Robert. Perhaps Cedric Mullins could be available if the Orioles can’t dig themselves out of their current hole in the standings. The Twins could deal either Willi Castro or former Met Harrison Bader if the club’s current seven-game winning streak proves to be simply a flash in the pan. Robert stands out from that pack, however, as an option controlled beyond the 2025 season (via a pair of $20MM club options for 2026 and ’27) and by offering higher upside than any of them.

Of course, any deal would be contingent on the sides being able to agree on an asking price. Nightengale writes that the White Sox are “eyeing” right-hander Blade Tidwell as part of the of a possible return package, though it’s unclear if the Mets would have any interesting in parting ways with the 23-year-old. Tidwell made his big league debut last week, and while it didn’t go well (six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings), he remains a valuable part of the starting pitching depth chart for a Mets club that has dealt with a number of early-season pitching injuries already. It would be understandable if the Mets were hesitant to include a big league ready arm like Tidwell in the return for Robert, especially if the deal were to happen early in the season before the trade market heats up in earnest. Speculatively speaking, the club could be more open to dealing a player like Tidwell later in the year, when they may have either received reinforcements from the injured list or swung separate trades with other clubs to acquire more starting pitching.

Mets Select Blade Tidwell; Danny Young To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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The Mets announced this morning that they’ve selected the contract of righty Blade Tidwell in a move that was first reported earlier this week. Tidwell will take the 40-man roster spot of southpaw Danny Young, who is headed to the 60-day injured list due to an elbow issue that Will Sammon of The Athletic reports will require Tommy John surgery. Tommy John was first reported as a possibility for Young earlier this week.

The club optioned right-hander Austin Warren to the minor leagues to make room for Tidwell on the active roster, though Warren was immediately placed back on the roster as the club’s 27th man for today’s doubleheader against the Cardinals. That bit of roster maneuvering, according to Tim Healey of Newsday, will allow the club to option Tidwell to the minors after his start in today’s first game and call up Dedniel Nunez to make him available for Game 2. Mike Puma of the New York Post first reported that Nunez would be joining the Mets in St. Louis for today’s doubleheader earlier this morning.

Tidwell, 24 next month, was a second-rounder for the Mets in the 2022 draft and hit the ground running with a 1.93 ERA in five starts down the stretch in his draft year. He generally pitched quite well in the lower levels of the minors before hitting his first significant rough patch upon a promotion to Triple-A partway through the 2024 season. He posted a 5.93 ERA in 85 innings for Syracuse last year, and the results haven’t been much better this season as he’s posted a 5.00 ERA through his first six starts of the year. With that being said, Tidwell’s 31.6% strikeout rate is encouraging and an 8.5% walk rate is perfectly manageable. Tidwell’s struggles this year surely have at least something to due with an elevated .369 BABIP, so it stands to reason he could theoretically post much better results in today’s start than his Triple-A numbers might otherwise indicate.

Making way for Tidwell to join the 40-man roster is Young, who will miss the remainder of the 2025 season and at least some of 2026 as well. It’s a deeply disappointing outcome for the soon-to-be 31-year-old hurler. Young got his first extended look in the majors with New York just last year and pitched better than his 4.54 ERA in 42 appearances would indicate, striking out 29.0% of his opponents with a 3.64 FIP. It was enough to earn Young a spot in the club’s bullpen for this year, but he’ll unfortunately end 2025 with a familiarly pedestrian 4.32 ERA despite his strikeout rate improving to 35.1% and his FIP sitting at a fantastic 1.38 on the year. With Young and A.J. Minter both seemingly ticketed for season-ending absences, the Mets are known to be searching for lefty bullpen help even as the trade deadline remains nearly three months away.

Warren, meanwhile, will participate in today’s doubleheader before being sent back to Syracuse. The 29-year-old righty sports an impressive 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings of work this year, but much of that is fortunate luck on batted balls and sequencing given that he’s walked (five) nearly as many batters as he’s struck out (seven) so far this year. The righty has only 48 2/3 innings of work in the majors to this point in his career, but he’s generally looked like a solid enough middle relief arm with a 3.14 ERA and 3.91 FIP overall. It seems likely that Warren will be shuttled between Syracuse and Queens frequently throughout the 2025 season as one of the few optionable pieces of the club’s bullpen mix.

Tidwell’s expected departure from the roster later today figures to make room for Nunez, who has not yet pitched in the majors this year but impressed in an up-and-down role last year with a 2.31 ERA, 35.6% strikeout rate, and 2.22 FIP in 35 innings of work across 25 appearances. The 28-year-old’s brilliant performance in the majors last year has not been replicated so far in Triple-A, as he’s posted a solid but unremarkable 3.48 ERA in 10 1/3 innings for Syracuse while punching out just 24.5% of his opponents. Even so, Nunez figures to be a solid addition to the club’s relief mix who could be counted on for multi-inning appearances or stick mostly to shorter outings like he has so far this year in the minors.

Mets To Promote Blade Tidwell

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The Mets are planning to select the contract of right-handed pitching prospect Blade Tidwell, as first reported by Daniel Wexler. He’ll join the team in St. Louis this weekend. The Mets currently have Sunday’s starter listed as TBD, and Mike Puma of the New York Post reports that Tidwell will make that start.

Tidwell, 23, was the Mets’ second-round pick in the 2022 draft. The former University of Tennessee standout is currently ranked among New York’s top-15 prospects both at Baseball America and at MLB.com.

The 6’4″ Tidwell is in his second run through the Triple-A level. He’s started the 2025 season with a rough-looking 5.00 ERA but much more appealing rate stats: a 31.6% strikeout rate, an 8.5% walk rate, a 38% ground-ball rate and a 0.67 HR/9 mark. Tidwell is averaging 96 mph on his four-seam fastball, up from last year’s 94.7 mph average, and has seen his swinging-strike rate jump from 11.6% to 14.5%. Fielding-independent metrics (3.17 FIP, 3.79 xFIP) feel Tidwell has been far better than his earned run average, which is currently skewed by a .369 average on balls in play.

Tidwell cruised through the low minors before struggling in his first brief stint in Double-A in 2023. He opened the 2024 season at Double-A and breezed through opponents in his second go-around before being bumped to Triple-A midway through the year. He was hit harder and struggled with his command in 17 starts there last year. Even with a 5.00 ERA, this year’s rate stats suggest that Tidwell is making gains in his second crack at Triple-A, just as he did in Double-A.

It’s likely that Tidwell’s initial call the majors will be a one-off. Even with an injury-ravaged rotation that’s seen Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn hit the injured list already, the Mets have five healthy starters in Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. Incredibly, all five have an ERA of 3.06 or lower. No team in the game is even close to the Mets’ MLB-leading 2.24 rotation ERA.

The Mets currently have a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding moves on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters. Outfielder Jose Siri (fractured leg) and left-hander Danny Young (elbow sprain) are both 60-day IL candidates, so the Mets don’t necessarily need to designate someone for assignment in order to clear a path for Tidwell’s first big league promotion.

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