Blade Tidwell

Tidwell came out of the same Loretto high school in Tennessee that produced 2018 first-rounder Ryan Weathers. At the time, Tidwell was a projection righthander who ranked as the No. 408 prospect on the 2020 BA 500, but now he’s a potential first-round pick who possesses some of the most electric stuff in the 2022 draft class. One of the few elite college arms in the 2022 class who entered the year with an extended resume as a starter, Tidwell posted a 3.74 ERA over 18 starts and 98.2 innings in 2021. While he was a bit homer prone (12 homers), he struck out 90 batters and walked 34. Tidwell couldn’t build on his resume as much as he would have liked in 2022 after missing the first two months of the season with shoulder soreness, but showed the same electric stuff when he returned to the mound in late March. Tidwell has a fastball that gets up to 99 mph and has averaged 96 this spring. While the velocity is easily plus, Tidwell throws from a higher arm slot and release height that creates a downhill plane and less deception than teams would like, though the pitch has efficient spin and induced vertical break around 18 inches. His go-to secondary is a mid-80s slider with high spin rates in the 2,500-2,800 rpm range that has generated whiffs more than 40% of the time this spring. Tidwell used the slider more than 30% of the time, and went to a firm, mid-80s changeup less than 10% of the time this spring, though his results on the pitch—in terms of results and whiffs—were solid. Tidwell has also thrown a mid-70s curveball but uses it infrequently. While Tidwell has powerful stuff from a big and physical, 6-foot-4, 200-pound frame, scouts believe he needs to refine his command. His walk rates have been solid throughout his college career, and he throws enough strikes to profile as a starter, but he will get scattered within the zone and some teams might think he fits better as a two-pitch, high-octane reliever. Tidwell’s shoulder injury adds to the risk of his profile, but there’s plenty of upside here as well.