Photo by The Knoxville News-Sentinel

With the 52nd overall pick, the New York Mets have selected Blade Tidwell, a right-handed pitcher out of Tennessee. In what was their third pick of the night, the Mets took a pitcher that was ranked No. 27 heading into the draft by MLB Pipeline.

After using their first two selections on position players (Kevin Parada and Jett Williams), the Mets have added to their pitching depth with the righty. The Mets have now drafted three of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospects in the draft.

Tidwell was once thought to be a potential top-1o pick before shoulder issues put him on the shelf.

Despite those concerns, the righty returned to the mound in late March for Tennessee and got his fastball back up to 99 mph. He regularly sat between 94 and 98 mph. There are concerns about his durability, and his command and control still haven’t returned to pre-injury levels.

However, the book on Tidwell appears to be that should he be able to fully recover from his shoulder issues, then he possesses electric stuff with two elite pitches. He certainly has plenty of upside, and his mid-80s slider elicited whiffs more than 40% of the time this spring. There’s certainly a lot to like about Tidwell and the Mets were able to get a clear first-round talent early in the second.

His slot value is $1.47 million.

Again, a lot of Tidwell’s future success depends on his health. If his shoulder problems are fully behind him, then many Draft experts project the righty to develop into a legit power pitcher that can slide into the middle of a rotation. The Mets may want to work with him on developing another pitch to pair with his fastball and slider.

Blake Tidwell Prospect Analysis

This is what Baseball America had to say about 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 has a fastball that gets up to 99 mph and has averaged 96 this spring. …

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.”

Keith Law of The Athletic:

Tidwell started the year on the shelf with what the team termed a “significant shoulder injury,” but returned to the mound in late March and made several starts for the Vols, showing the kind of stuff that made him a potential top-10 pick before the shoulder issues. Tidwell has been up to 99 and regularly sits 94-97 with a solid-average slider that’s 81-87, short but often with tight enough break to elicit chases out of the zone.

His command and control are both below average, and he’s had more trouble as he’s gone deeper into games, with 10 walks in 17 innings over his last five SEC outings. Tennessee has used Tidwell judiciously, never pushing him past 14 outs, but that also leaves the question of his durability unanswered. If you think he can start, and that the shoulder issue is not serious, he’s a clear first-rounder, maybe even landing in the top half of the round.

FanGraphs on Tidwell:

A prototypical power pitcher, Tidwell has a big, broad-shouldered frame, a mid-90s fastball, and a biting slider for which he has consistent, glove-side feel. His changeup feel is much less consistent, but Tidwell will occasionally flash a plus one, and he was only a true freshman in 2021 and missed a chunk of this season with a shoulder injury, so there’s arguably more changeup projection here due to present lack of reps (he threw just about 40 innings in his draft year).

Tidwell’s shoulder injury and his somewhat violent delivery are a little bit scary. The quality of his fastball strikes tend to be mixed, and he’s more of an in-zone bully than someone with precise command. This, combined with the shape of his fastball, makes him vulnerable to in-zone contact more than you’d guess from someone sitting 95 mph. His slider command is much more consistent. Though a little less stable than some of the other college pitchers, Tidwell has a more traditional build and mechanical look. He has mid-rotation ceiling.”

It has been a busy start to the 2022 MLB Draft for the Mets who took catcher Kevin Parada with the 11th overall pick, before selecting shortstop Jett Williams with the 14th overall pick. Before tonight, the last time the Mets used their first two Draft picks on position players was in 2014 when they selected Michael Conforto and Milton Ramos.

Baseball teams don’t tend to draft for need; they go for the best player available, and the Mets have been able to add three high-end prospects to their farm system with another pick to follow tonight. It has certainly been a good start to the 2022 draft for the New York Mets.