SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After being traded from the New York Mets to the San Francisco Giants last month, local star Blade Tidwell has now made two appearances with Triple-A Sacramento.
In his first trip to the mound with the River Cats on Aug. 5, the former Tennessee Vols ace struck out nine batters over five innings, while giving up two runs and four hits. The right-hander’s fastball hit 98 mph in the 86-pitch outing.
In his second outing, Tidwell threw five innings in relief, giving up one hit, walking one, and striking out seven last Sunday. He threw 78 pitches, 53 for strikes.
According to Maria Guardado’s Giants Beat newsletter, Tidwell is already on the 40-man roster, and the club will monitor his progress in Sacramento before deciding on a move to San Francisco.
“Probably the first thing is to watch him pitch a little bit before we kind of get a handle on when he gets here,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But he was a key part of the trade. Somebody that’s on the verge of being in the big leagues. It’s just what the need is.
“But I think getting a handle on him down there and figuring out what works for him and getting to know the player a little bit is probably step one.”
Blade Tidwell struck out 9 over 5 innings in his debut with the Sacramento River Cats after being traded to the Giants pic.twitter.com/gzSg6GYirq
— Sam (@sthorn_23) August 6, 2025
Tidwell’s Tennessee teammate outfielder Drew Gilbert was also part of the Giants-Mets deal along with pitcher Jose Butto. The Mets got reliever Tyler Rogers in the trade.
Gilbert made his Giants debut last Friday in a 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals. He went 0-for-4 at the plate, but made an outstanding catch in right field for the third out in the third inning.
The Mets drafted Tidwell in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft with the 52nd overall pick. He made his Major League debut with the Mets on May 4 in a start against the St. Louis Cardinals.
On July 2, Tidwell earned his first career victory after allowing three runs and striking out three in 4 1/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. After each of his four spot appearances to help New York fill out its injury-thinned pitching staff, he was optioned back to Syracuse.
Tidwell and Gilbert were with the Mets Triple-A team in Syracuse at the time of the trade.
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