Blake Tidwell
RHP Tennessee
2021 Tennessee stat line - 18-starts, 10-3, 3.74, 97.2-IP, 90-K
3-9-22 - https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022-mlb-draft-top-400-prospects -
23. Blade Tidwell
Right-Handed Pitcher, Tennessee
When it comes to Tidwell, the conversation starts and ends with the fastball. Tidwell has consistently been up into the upper-90s and has touched 99. If the command ticks up in 2022 and he learns to shape and spot his fastball at the top of the zone, watch out. Tidwell is working to develop a heater with more hop, focusing on subtle changes with Team USA this past summer. By winter, he was getting 17-21 inches of IVB on the fastball consistently. Tidwell features a sweeping slider in the mid-to-upper 80s as well as a fringier mid-70s curveball that he's working to refine. It’s a super-athletic body and a quick arm. There’s definitive starter upside here. All that said, Tidwell suffered from a shoulder injury in 2022, and teams will have to keep that in mind when considering risk.
3-1-22 - Joe Doyle @JoeDoyleMiLB
Tennessee RHP Blade Tidwell is still "at least a few weeks out" from taking the mound again. He has begun a throwing program
Blade Tidwell (RHP, Tennessee)
Tidwell uses the fastball-slider combination in his arsenal to dominate on the mound. His high-90s fastball is nearly untouchable while the slider is sharp and falls away from the bat of a righty hitter. The biggest concern with Tidwell is his injury history, he has had some shoulder injuries in the past, but looks to overcome those for Tennessee this season.
26. Blade Tidwell, RHP, Tennessee
Tidwell ranks far lower than he would've had this list been compiled before it was announced that he would miss the start of the season because of shoulder soreness. Teams have shown a greater appetite for risk when it comes to pitchers recovering from Tommy John surgery, but the shoulder is another matter. (It should be noted that he's not expected to require surgery for this ailment.) Anyway, Tidwell is coming off an impressive season in the SEC, in which he posted a 3.74 ERA and a 2.65 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His fastball has been clocked into the upper 90s before and he has a swing-and-miss slider. If he can prove his health before now and draft day, he should be able to move back up the list. Otherwise, he could slip further.
2-10-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-mlb-mock-draft-version-10/?s=03 -
26. White Sox — Blade Tidwell, RHP, Tennessee
Carlos' take: Another BPA selection for me here and another college arm who should be a conundrum with his shoulder issues. Hopefully, he gets healthy and can take the ball because he has some of the best stuff, size and starting track record in the class. Assuming health, I would think this might make some sense for a White Sox team who is in win-now mode.
Scout’s take: I see that you like going back to pick from the same tree. This reminds me of the White Sox selecting Crochet out of Tennessee. Tidwell is another reliever that could get to the show quickly. Crochet went through a little soreness as well, but was able to bounce back. Hopefully, Tidwell does the same.
1-27-22 - Mike Wilson @ByMikeWilson
Tennessee ace Blade Tidwell is sidelined with shoulder soreness. He is out indefinitely with UT's season starting on Feb. 18.
Tidwell is a projected first-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
1-15-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/rankings/2022-mlb-draft-top-100-prospects/ -
12
Blade Tidwell
Tennessee RHP
Notes:
Ht: 6-4 | Wt: 200 | B-T: R-R
Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.1
Tidwell was a projection righthander out of the same Loretto high school in Tennessee that produced 2018 first-rounder Ryan Weathers. He ranked as the No. 408 prospect on the 2020 BA 500, but now possesses some of the most electric stuff in the 2022 draft class and looks like a first round arm. Tidwell posted a 3.74 ERA during the 2021 spring with Tennessee, striking out 90 batters and walking 34 over 98.2 innings. He continued to impress over the summer and a fastball that sat 93-95 mph last spring was touching 98 mph in the fall. He mostly works with that fastball and a low-to-mid-80s slider that generated whiffs at a 37% rate last spring. Tidwell has also been effective with a low-80s changeup when he’s used it, but that and a slower curveball have been infrequent offerings to this point. Tidwell’s control has wavered at times and that’s an area scouts are looking to see him improve this spring. That control was part of the reason he allowed 12 home runs in just 18 starts, so he’ll need to spot his pitches better to take more advantage of his velocity. Still, Tidwell has the sort of physicality and stuff teams covet and he also has a lengthy track record as a starter in a draft class light on such players.
1-17-22 - https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/future-four-2022-draft-eligible-righthanders-to-know/?s=03 -
Blade Tidwell, RHP, Tennessee
Ranking No. 408 on Baseball America’s 2020 BA 500, Tidwell matriculated to Tennessee with heightened expectations. As a true freshman, Tidwell was immediately slotted into the weekend rotation, making 18 starts during the 2021 season and accumulating 98 innings over the course of the year. Tidwell earned a variety of offseason honors and was named to the Collegiate National Team this summer. He enters the 2022 season as the Volunteers' de facto ace on the heels of the program's deepest postseason run since 2005 and is the top-ranked college arm in the class.
A tall, strong righthander with a muscular and athletic build, Tidwell is high-waisted and broad-shouldered. Tidwell repeats his operation well, which lends itself to a consistent release point and strike-throwing. Tidwell has a shorter, quick arm action with an extremely vertical operation and good arm speed that leads into a high three-quarter slot. His release height is further boosted by his upright, tall-and-fall operation. This combination, coupled with well below-average extension, produces a higher release on his fastball which is typically easier for an opposing batter to identify out of the hand.
The Tennessee righthander utilizes a four-pitch mix consisting of a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a slider/cutter hybrid in the low-to-mid 80s, a high-70s, sweeper curveball and a bat-missing changeup with an 11-12 mph separation off of his fastball.
He sits 94-96 mph, so it’s got to be a plus four-seam, right? Pardon me while I get my John McLaughlin hat on, but wrong! While Tidwell lights up radar guns, he has several characteristics working against him. As previously mentioned, Tidwell’s release is high, which tends to lead to a lack of deception on four-seam fastballs, particularly when your game plan is centered around locating your fastball in the upper quadrants. This is likely the driving force behind two bad outcomes that Tidwell’s fastball drives—a high number of home runs and hard hits (10 home runs allowed in 18 starts). His movement is average to a tick above-average with around 18 inches of induced vertical break and raw spin rates in the 2200-2400 rpm range. It’s higher efficiency, and likely still has some room for growth in that regard. Due to his higher plane, Tidwell will never produce a flatter approach angle but his above-average efficiency allows his approach angle to play a little flatter than his release would typically dictate. In totality, it’s an average fastball with plus velocity, above-average ride, below-average release characteristics and average command.
With Tidwell’s fastball accounting for over 60% of his pitch usage the remaining 40% is split between a trio of secondaries. However, Tidwell’s slider is by far the most used of his secondaries, seeing nearly 70% of his non-fastball pitch usage. It’s a unique offering and I’m not sure calling it a slider is appropriate. It’s a true cutter-slider hybrid, with over eight inches of sweep (similar to a slider) and over six inches of ride (typical of a cutter). It’s a higher spin offering seeing raw spin rates in the 2400-2700 rpm range. While the pitch’s approach angle is steeper than his fastball, its unique movement profile tunnels well off of his fastball before sweeping glove side as it hits the zone. With deceptive traits and a unique movement pattern, it’s no wonder that the slider is Tidwell’s best swing-and-miss pitch, generating whiffs at a rate of 37% (17% swinging strike rate). Beyond just generating whiffs, it’s a hard contact killer, driving a near 50% groundball rate while batters hit just .200/.240/.311 against the pitch in 2021. It's a unique breaking pitch, and likely a primary driver of Tidwell’s early success.
Both of Tidwell’s remaining secondaries are infrequently used, but both flash positive traits, and could develop into larger parts of his plan of attack as he develops. The changeup boasts the higher usage of the two, as well as the highest whiff (39%) and swinging strike rate (19%) in his arsenal. It’s also a contact controller with a 57% groundball rate as hitters batted just .143/.182/.143 against the pitch last season.
His curveball is a high-70s sweeper, with little to no vertical drop but on average over 14 inches of sweep. While his curveball stands out for its shape—and his above-average command of the pitch—it’s not effective as a bat-misser or a heavy groundball driver. While batters' results against the pitch were poor, there was a fair amount of luck involved as the pitch was barreled more regularly than the rest of his arsenal.
There’s a lot to like with Tidwell. He throws hard, repeats his motion, has a deep arsenal of usable pitches with unique movement profiles and a signature secondary in his slider/cutter hybrid. Improvements to his fastball command and spin efficiency could help Tidwell’s fastball to play closer to his velocity, while further refinement of his changeup, and to a lesser extent, his curveball could yield improved results and cement him as a true starting pitching prospect.
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