TODAY: The Padres have officially announced their selection from Waldron’s contract. To make room for Waldron in the active roster, left-handed Ray Kerr was optioned to Triple-A. Kerr posted a 6.00 ERA and 5.77 FIP in six innings in the San Diego bullpen and is now scheduled to serve as a defensive end for El Paso.
23RD JUNE: The Padres will encourage knuckleballers Matt Waldron to start tomorrow night’s game against the Nationals, the club told reporters (including Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune). He’s not on the 40-man roster, but San Diego still has a chance after his appointment Nabil Crismatt for use on Tuesday. Michael Wacha was intended as the starting shot for the game. The brothers skip his outing due to shoulder fatigue. tweets AJ Cassavell of MLB.com.
Waldron, a 26-year-old right-back, entered the pro ranks in 2019 as the Indians’ 18th-round pick. Cleveland traded him to San Diego after the 2020 season as a player to be named later Mike Clevinger/Josh Naylor, Cal Quantrill blockbusters.
The University of Nebraska product has slowly climbed the minor league ranks in the two and a half years since. He reached the Triple-A El Paso midway through last season and spent all of 2023 there. He has a 7.02 ERA over 66 2/3 innings this year and has started 12 of 14 appearances.
That obviously isn’t a strong sign for run prevention, even in the context of the brutal situation in the Pacific Coast League for pitchers. Waldron is ranked 27th among 38 PCL hurlers (40 innings minimum) in the ERA. In this group, however, he is in seventh place in terms of strikeout rate and fans out almost a quarter of the opponents. He’s kept his walks to a manageable 7.8%, with the inflated ERA largely due to an in-game batting average of just under .400.
It’s unclear if Waldron will get more than one start in his first MLB appearance. While this is a one-off appearance for now, it will mean both a great personal achievement and a win for knuckleball fans.
According to Statcast, not a single knuckleball has been thrown in the major leagues in the past two seasons (aside from a few scattered Eephus pitches from position players on cleanup duty). Mickey Jannis made a backup appearance for the Orioles in 2021; the last knuckleballer to throw more than twice Steven Wright back in 2019.