PORT ST. LUCIE — Blade Tidwell used a subtraction lesson to begin receiving higher results toward the tip of last season.
A right-hander with a giant fastball who’s regarded among the many Mets’ top pitching prospects, the 23-year-old Tidwell said he was throwing as many as nine different pitches last season for Triple-A Syracuse. It wasn’t until he reduced that number to 5 that he felt higher about his outings.
“I believe I used to be attempting to work on lots of things and too many things at that,” Tidwell said this week. “By the tip of the 12 months I sort of narrowed my sights and focused on what I would like to do to get to the following level. And I believe by the tip of the 12 months it was working for me after which I’m attempting to carry that momentum on to at once.”
Overall, Tidwell pitched to a 5.93 ERA in 19 appearances (17 of which were starts) for Syracuse. But in five of his last seven starts he allowed two earned runs or fewer.
PORT ST. LUCIE — Blade Tidwell used a subtraction lesson to begin receiving higher results toward the tip of last season.
A right-hander with a giant fastball who’s regarded among the many Mets’ top pitching prospects, the 23-year-old Tidwell said he was throwing as many as nine different pitches last season for Triple-A Syracuse. It wasn’t until he reduced that number to 5 that he felt higher about his outings.
“I believe I used to be attempting to work on lots of things and too many things at that,” Tidwell said this week. “By the tip of the 12 months I sort of narrowed my sights and focused on what I would like to do to get to the following level. And I believe by the tip of the 12 months it was working for me after which I’m attempting to carry that momentum on to at once.”
Overall, Tidwell pitched to a 5.93 ERA in 19 appearances (17 of which were starts) for Syracuse. But in five of his last seven starts he allowed two earned runs or fewer.