Matt Waldron Introduced the Knuckleball Again to the Majors

If not as momentous as the rediscovery of the coelacanth after a 65-million-year absence, the return of the knuckleball to Major League Baseball was nonetheless an event value noting. On Saturday, the Padres recalled Matt Waldron to make a spot begin, and the 26-year-old righty grew to become the primary pitcher to throw a knuckleball in an everyday season recreation because the Orioles’ Mickey Jannis in 2021.

Waldron threw solely 13 knucklers from amongst his 62 pitches, mixing the fluttering pitch right into a extra normal arsenal, however he received good outcomes with the providing. All advised, he carried out respectably, permitting simply two runs — each by way of solo homers off his four-seam fastball — in 4.2 innings to the Nationals. Unfortunately, the Padres didn’t rating in any respect, and fell 2–0.

Matt Waldron, Knuckleball. ? pic.twitter.com/kpmpuXQKzB

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 25, 2023

Where the knuckleball usually had not less than one or two standard-bearers with safe spots within the majors at any time from the mid-Nineteen Sixties up by 2017, the pitch has turn into an endangered species lately, as I’ve famous a number of instances on this house. Brothers Phil Niekro (who pitched within the majors from 1964 to ’87) and Joe Niekro (1967–88), Wilbur Wood (1961–78), and reliever Hoyt Wilhelm (1952–72) all thrived with the pitch (some for longer than others), with the elder Niekro and Wilhelm each making the Hall of Fame. Charlie Hough (1970–94), Tom Candiotti (1983–99), and Tim Wakefield (1992–93, ’95–2011) grew to become staples of the rotation if not stars, and Steve Sparks (1995–96, ’98–2004) and Dennis Springer (1995–2002) discovered sporadic success. R.A. Dickey took the baton from Wakefield and gave the knuckleball its final burst of prominence. He turned to the pitch in 2008 after discovering little success throughout his sporadic appearances within the majors from ’01 to ’06, lastly solidified a spot within the majors in 2010, and two years later grew to become the primary knuckleballer to win a Cy Young Award; that yr, he was the one true pitcher to throw a single knuckleball within the majors in line with both PITCHf/x or Pitch Info.

Dickey lasted till 2017, when he was 42 years outdated, however except for him, each knuckleballer who got here and went roughly hung round on the most important league margins. Steven Wright, who debuted for the Red Sox in 2013, spent elements of seven seasons within the majors, however a knee damage and a suspension for home violence restricted him to 60 innings in 2018–19, the primary years of the post-Dickey period. Since then, the pitch has turn into the province of place gamers pressed into mop-up obligation, with Ryan Feierabend (2019 with the Blue Jays) and Jannis the one true pitchers to strive it on the main league degree. That they mixed for simply three appearances, permitting 14 runs in 9 innings, solely underscored the pitch’s decline in reputation.

Hence the curiosity in Waldron, whom Cleveland drafted out of the University of Nebraska within the 18th spherical in 2019, then despatched to San Diego because the participant to be named later within the Mike Clevinger blockbuster in November 2020. Waldron taught himself a knuckleball means again in Little League, figuring it out with twin brother Mike, who had this to say about it when interviewed on MLB’s broadcast:

“[It started] simply out of curiosity… It was a kind of issues that you simply’re like, ‘Hey, that’s fairly cool. We’ll go forward and see what we are able to do, throw it round.’

“It kind of became one of those fun pitches we’d throw around when we were at practice or something, just something to mess around with. To see it work at this level … it’s unbelievable, really.”

Waldron turned some heads in Padres camp throwing the knuckleball in warm-ups in 2021, and so the group inspired him to function the pitch, which sat within the low 80s and contrasted effectively together with his 92–94 mph fastball, slider, and changeup. Exactly how a lot he threw it’s unclear, however in accordance to Baseball America, “As Waldron got more comfortable with the pitch, he pushed its usage over 70%.” He pitched to a 4.25 ERA, strolling 35 and putting out 103, in 103.2 innings break up between High-A Fort Wayne and Double-A San Antonio.

Unfortunately minor league pitch utilization information for Waldron isn’t straightforward to return by, because the pitch is so uncommon that auto-tagging programs often label it as a slider or changeup; try his spin charges for the pitch, and sometimes you’d see one which’s 2,900 RPM or so as a substitute of sitting within the 100–400 vary, the place he was in his most up-to-date begin for Triple-A El Paso on June 16. According to Synergy Sports, which manually tags every pitch, Waldron threw knuckleballs simply 9% of the time final yr whereas getting smoked for a 6.26 ERA in 113.2 innings break up between San Antonio and El Paso. He walked 39 and struck out 96 however served up 14 homers, together with 12 in simply 69.1 innings for El Paso. This yr, he was as much as 22% in his knuckleball utilization; based mostly on numerous reviews and his personal feedback, he was throwing it extra typically to lefties than righties. “I use it coming out that same tunnel [as the fastball],” he advised reporters.

For as sound as his plan could also be, Waldron had been rocked for a 7.02 ERA, 5.34 FIP and 11 homers in 66.2 innings when the decision got here. Those numbers clearly aren’t spectacular, but it surely’s value remembering that altitude is a major issue within the Pacific Coast League. The Chihuahuas’ Southwest University Park sits 3,750 ft above sea degree; the circuit additionally consists of high-altitude parks in Albuquerque (5,100 ft), Reno (4,500 ft), Salt Lake City (4,230 ft), and Las Vegas (3,000 ft). Not solely do batted balls carry additional at such altitudes than at sea degree, however knuckleballs additionally transfer much less. Dickey by no means pitched at Coors Field (and solely confronted the Rockies twice) however did throw bullpens there and pitched in opposition to Triple-A Colorado Springs throughout his minor league years. In 2012, he defined the hazards of the knuckleball at altitude to sportswriter Dave Krieger:

“It is more durable to throw at these excessive altitudes as a result of there’s not a lot humidity for the ball to sort of resist in opposition to. At sea degree… if I throw a mediocre knuckleball, effectively, it’s nonetheless going to maneuver, it simply may not transfer as sharply or as a lot. If I throw a mediocre knuckleball in Colorado, it’s going to be a b.p. (batting apply) fastball proper down the center that I’m going to need to both dodge or I’m going to simply put my glove up for the umpire to throw me one other ball as a result of that one simply went 450 ft.

Thus the circumstances make it powerful to take Waldron’s numbers at face worth, which the Padres certainly perceive once they turned to him for a spot begin rather than Michael Wacha; he’s been the group’s greatest pitcher this yr, with a 2.90 ERA and three.78 FIP, however has additionally been notoriously fragile all through his profession and is at the moment coping with a bout of shoulder fatigue. Waldron’s keep wasn’t anticipated to be an extended one — and actually, he was optioned again to El Paso on Sunday — however his outing did open some eyes.

Facing the Nationals, who rank twelfth within the NL in each scoring (4.13 runs per recreation) and wRC+ (93), Waldron received forward of leadoff hitter Lane Thomas utilizing his four-seam fastball, then unveiled the knuckleball on a 1–2 pitch that Thomas fouled off; because it turned out, Thomas can be the one righty-swinger to see any of Waldron’s knucklers. Two pitches later, Waldron struck out Thomas swinging at a 93.8 mph four-seamer proper down the center. After getting Luis Garcia on a first-pitch grounder, he received forward of switch-hitting Jeimer Candelario (who batted lefty) 0–1, then threw one other knuckler, this one too low. Candelario took it for a ball, then crushed a 92.9-mph middle-middle fastball for a towering 395-foot solo homer, 107 mph off the bat, the hardest-hit ball Waldron would permit all night. Here’s a have a look at the 2 knucklers, contrasted with the 2 payoff pitches:

Ouch. After the homer, Waldron recovered to strike out Joey Meneses to finish the inning, utilizing three four-seamers in addition to a cutter and a slider, each of which have been means outdoors the strike zone. He saved the knuckleball on ice till the fourth inning, after working round a leadoff single by Corey Dickerson (a lefty) within the second and serving up a solo homer to Thomas on a 92.4-mph first-pitch fastball within the third; he additionally issued a one-out stroll to Garcia however stranded him.

In the fourth, Waldron threw back-to-back knuckleballs to Dickerson, who had fallen behind 0–1; he fouled off each, took a fastball for a ball, then grounded to shortstop on yet one more knuckler. Waldron went again to the pitch for 3 out of the 4 choices to the following batter, switch-hitter Keibert Ruiz (batting lefty), who lastly grounded one to second base. Here are the floaters from that two-hitter sequence:

While it will have figured that Waldron would possibly throw a knuckleball to lefty Dominic Smith, he didn’t have to, as Smith grounded out on an 0–2 fastball. In the fifth, righty Derek Hill grounded to quick on a fastball after shedding two cutters effectively outdoors the zone. Lefty CJ Abrams, alternatively, noticed nothing however knuckleballs, flying out to proper discipline on the fourth one.

That swinging strike had 20 inches of horizontal motion, Waldron’s highest measure of the sport and considered one of 4 in double digits. Here’s a slow-motion view:

Matt Waldron, Knuckleball Movement. ?

20 Inches of Run. pic.twitter.com/oS3dce5VPd

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 25, 2023

Thomas took Waldron’s last knuckler for ball one earlier than singling off a slider, at which level supervisor Bob Melvin pulled the rookie in favor of veteran lefty Tim Hill, who struck out Garcia. The Padres bullpen didn’t permit one other run, however the lineup couldn’t muster any sort of warmth, managing simply 4 hits, all singles, and failing to benefit from a further 4 walks in opposition to starter Josiah Gray. The Nationals bullpen retired all 11 batters it confronted, six by strikeouts.

All advised, Waldron threw 27 four-seamers, 14 sliders, seven cutters and a sinker to go together with his 13 knuckleballs. He received 5 whiffs and 10 referred to as strikes with the four-seamer, which averaged 92.3 mph and topped out at 94.4. He received only one whiff out of seven swings by way of the knuckler, whose velocity ranged from 76.3 mph to 84.2 mph, in addition to two referred to as strikes; he had a 23% CSW for that pitch, in comparison with 37% for the fastball and 29% total. Batters did chase three of the eight floaters he threw outdoors the strike zone (37.5%, and it’s value noting that none of them escaped the attain of catcher Gary Sánchez, who was dealing with the pitch for the primary time), however additionally they made contact with all 5 within the zone, although the one ones they put into play have been the outs of Dickerson, Ruiz, and Abrams. Those three had a mean exit velocity of 89.7 mph, an xBA of .137, an xSLG of .160, and an xwOBA of .125, although his total marks — 92.2 mph exit velo, .294 xBA, .574 xSLG, .383 xwOBA — clearly weren’t pretty much as good. As his 50% hard-hit price and 6.35 xERA attests, Waldron must do a greater job of limiting exhausting contact if he’s to outlive.

As for the knuckleball itself, the whole of 13 that he threw on Saturday was fewer than these of seven place gamers who’ve damaged it out for his or her mound cameos throughout the pitch-tracking period (2008 onward), to not point out all 9 of the opposite pitchers who did so. Excluding the bastard sons of Wade Boggs, right here’s how they stack up:

Waldron’s knuckler charges because the quickest when it comes to common velocity, quicker even than Dickey’s “angry knuckleball.” It’s mid-pack when it comes to vertical motion, however tops when it comes to horizontal motion. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot in the best way of direct comparisons for spin price, because it wasn’t till Statcast switched to the Hawkeye cameras in 2020 that spin could possibly be measured immediately; Waldron’s knucklers averaged 295 RPM, which is decrease than Jannis’ common of 407 however about double the perfect of 150, which interprets into about one to 1 and half rotations from the mound to the plate. Neither Stuff+ nor PitchingBot even scored Waldron’s knuckleball, although each fashions actually appreciated his slider (whose utilization price matches up with Gameday, which is to say the pitches aren’t being conflated), and PitchingBot discovered his different pitches to be not less than common, although it didn’t rating the cutter. Stuff+ noticed his different pitches as pedestrian, which I imagine higher matches up with the overall scouting notion. Small-sample caveats abound:

All advised, I feel it’s honest to say that Waldron demonstrated some promise with the best way he used the knuckleball to maintain hitters off steadiness, however that except he can hone his arsenal and discover a strategy to miss extra bats, he’s possible destined to stay on the perimeter of the majors fairly than securing an everyday job. I might completely like to be unsuitable about that, as a result of even in his one-night cameo, Waldron’s knuckleball was a most welcome sight.