Top Mets pitching prospect Blade Tidwell gets the ball in Game 1 of the Eastern League Championship

The New York Mets might not have much at stake when it comes to winning. However, there’s a lot going on down in the minors leagues. Double-A is where the fun is where the eyes of many Mets fans have turned. 

The Binghamton Rumble Ponies begin their final ascension to becoming the Eastern League Champions Sunday night when they open up against the Erie SeaWolves. They handled themselves in both games versus the Somerset Patriots last week with Dominic Hamel throwing a gem to complete the two-game sweep.

The big bullets on the mound aren’t through yet as the Rumble Ponies get to ask Blade Tidwell to begin the series for them. He didn’t fare too well at the Double-A level this year, but those overall numbers are a bit deceiving because of how brilliant he was at times.

NY Mets prospect Blade Tidwell was very “on” or “off” for Binghamton in the regular season

Three of Tidwell’s eight starts included 5+ shutout innings and 6 or more strikeouts. His most recent was on September 12 when he went 5 scoreless while allowing 3 hits to the Reading Fightin Phils. Tidwell added 9 strikeouts.

Unfortunately, he didn’t complete his season on the highest of notes. He exited after recording only a single out on September 17 against Reading with 2 earned runs across the board.

This was seemingly a theme for Tidwell in his Double-A season. He failed to record 15 or more outs 4 times.

Like many young pitchers, Tidwell is sometimes a victim of his lack of control. He walked an average of 4.5 batters per 9 innings. This has been his most obvious weakness since going pro. The 4.5 walks per 9 with Binghamton this year is actually the best he has had with any team at any level. He’s averaging 5 per 9 through his first 125.1 innings of work.

Completely out of Tidwell’s control will be the weather. It’s forecasted to rain as much in Binghamton as it is everywhere else in the area. A cancellation could postpone the start of the series until the storm passes by. This shouldn’t change who pitches for the Rumble Ponies. The scheduled 5:35pm first pitch should belong to him as will any potential rescheduled one for the following day.