KNUCKLEBALLER Matt Waldron’s Full Debut!! 

If he figures out that slider and stops hanging he’ll be deadly

I grew up in the 80s when there were Knuckleball pitchers. It was all I threw playing catch for a long time to get the hang of it. My son played AAA baseball and I was playing catch with his coach just lobbing them to try to get them to do 1 ½ to 2 rotations. He asked me to throw one hard, cause I don't think he thought I could throw one with velocity. I threw one as hard as I could (for me about 60 to 65mph, I was in my forties, and only played catch, not pitched in years) and it was probably the best knuckle I've thrown in my life. The bottom fell out of it and it dropped 1 foot and a half. It started at his chest and at the last second it dropped at his nuts. He flicked his glove down and barely caught it. His reaction was priceless. Nobody practices the knuckle anymore. My favorite pitch by far! I was never a fast pitcher, but there was something about the unpredictability of the knuckleball. You start it on target, get the right spin, then see what it does. Because... even though you threw it on target, it could go just about anywhere if you threw it right. That's special... ❤👊⚾

Has a very good knuckleball and the fact that he relies on it more in the later stages is always a good trait. Start them out with the hard stuff, fastball, cutter, and occasional slider. Then throw off their rhythm with a knuckle ball in the middle innings. That slide is absolutely filthy but he needs to get more control of it. Definitely left it out over the plate too much. But once he dials in his control of it, that’s gonna be a a very tough pitch to hit. Overall a solid debut even with the two long bombs. Needs a little help from his offense though

Proceeds to throw 4 KBs... he isnt a knuckleballer. He just has the pitch

😂 5% of his pitches were knuckleballs! He's not a knuckleball pitcher imo

Needs to throw more Knuckles. That's basically his curveball.

The knuckleball he throws Abrams on the 1-1 count in 5th is super filthy. Throw the slider to righties (don't hang it) and throw the knuckler to lefties. They do the opposite and work best against those sides. The first homerun was a pitch left over the middle but the second one was just a good swing. Ball was on the outside part of the plate and Thomas pulled it to left. He did get away with a few mistakes left over the middle. Such a unique knuckleball though. I like his stuff.

I would'nt call him a "knuckleballer" but its awesome to see pitchers still using it. The best pitch imo

Can’t miss middle middle but he did well keeping his composure during a very emotional (rightfully so) first outing

Long live the knuckleball.

He's not a knuckle baller. He barely threw it

If your knuckleball is in the 80's it seems like it'll work more like a changeup(less side-to-side darting)

5:29 Good heavens

He’s got good command of his fastball. He def needs to get alittle more command on that slider though. Can’t hang that thing in the majors. Them Guys will make him pay for it. Knuckle ball is nice. He’s going to be good for a long time.

Not a “knuckleballer” when he throws 4 other pitches lol

Give him some run support and this guy's gonna be great.

He made a couple mistakes and they took him deep but solo shots. Cant expect a starter not to give up any runs. Got to get some run support for your pitchers. He's got a couple small issues that he probably needs to iron out but based on that he's going to be fun to watch

That slider was filth. The KN is filthy too. It's like RA Dickey, but more speed but not quite there yet with it. Also has more tools than Dickey had, which is interesting. I don't even like Padres, but I love pitching.

Phil Niekro on hurling knuckleballs after giving up a homerun: "It isn't where you've been; it's where you're going." In other words, continue tossing your knuckler about 70% of the time, continually varying its velocity. 🤩

Knuckle played more like a changeup, didnt dance at all. Just fell

Those Knucks to the first hitter of the 4th inning were pure FILTH.

Tiene gran repertorio, su nudillo a veces se mueve brutal, su slider necesita mas rompimiento

If his slider would break more & he was able to get his fastball to move a bit more I think he could be really good. For now I could see him as a good relief pitcher. I'd be interested to see him develop a curveball or splitter then see what he would be like after developing those 2 pitches & use them in conjunction with the rest of his arsenal including the knuckleball

Here are my thoughts on Waldron: Waldron is our first knuckleballer since Mickey Jannis in 2021 and one of 6 pitchers in the last decade with it. You could tell hitters were fearing the knuckleball so much that they were whiffing badly on regular fastballs. I think the rest of Waldron’s arsenal is pretty below average, the fastball only sits around 92 MPH and there isn’t any crazy movement in the rest of his pitches. I think once hitters see him a few times, he’ll have much less success and hitters will get used to the knuckleball. I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds some success in the majors, but it doesn’t seem like the Padres want to see it through, with him already getting sent back down yesterday.

It looks like the catcher wanted to get through the lineup once with out relying on the KN. His second time through the lineup was much better.

The great knuckleballer Phil Niekro advised Tom Candiotti, known as a conventional pitcher (i.e., fastball, curve, and straight change-up) to begin gradually increasing his use of knuckleballs until he was hurling them 75 - 80 % of the time, and relying on fastballs and curveballs only 20% of the time. Under Phil's tutelage, Tom became a very good knuckleballer. Matt needs to train himself to use Niekro's mantra, which was, "Knuckleball, knuckleball, knuckleball!" Even when Phil was simply playing catch with a teammate on the sidelines, he repeatedly soft-tossed knuckleballs! Know wonder players gave him the moniker "Knucksie." 👍

Here after he just got recalled

Watching this wouldn’t call him a knuckleballer he’s just a pitcher with a knuckleball. A knuckleballer in my book throws a majority of knuckleballs.

1:10 That was like 12 inches of break starting at the grass cutout. That is utter filth if he can place it.

It looks like he only throws it about 10% of the time depending on who he's facing.

Solid start

Sorry, I don't mean to rain on everybody's parade, but I don't consider this guy is a knuckleballer. First, in the history of knuckleballers, I've never seen one with a 90+ MPH fastball. Second, knuckleballers primarily throw the knuckleball, roughly 75-80% of the time. Third, even a guy like R. A. Dickey, who won a Cy Young as a knuckleballer, didn't throw his knuckler over 80 MPH, at least not to my recollection. Don't get me wrong. He has a knuckleball in his repertoire, but that's like having a screwball in your repertoire, throwing it 10 or 12 times a game, and being referred to as a "screwball pitcher".

Love the movement on all his pitches. He just needs work. He'll be fine in time.

Pound the strike zone with the hard stuff and then come in with the knuckler. If he can command his other pitches and mix in the knuckle…..this guy could be a Cy Young winner. Most knuckler’s can’t hit 93 with the fastball, but a moving fastball with a 70 mph knuckleball, that’s unfair! He needs to back off on the 80 mph knuckleball, throw it in the 70’s, give it a chance to dance.

His knuckle ball is nice

Knuckle ballers typically don’t have the confidence in the Knuck when they’re throwing 94mph fastballs. Waldron may have to wait till he looses velocity, and proposed with a bus ticket home before the confidence to throw nothing but knucks

San Diego is baffling

Looks like RA too

Needs to slow that KN ball down

Fastball knuckleball cutter just stop throwing that slider. The looks he was getting from the cutter and knuckle was impressive.

I dont think the slider should remain as a common pitch for him, it doesn't do enough to mess with hitter's timing being that its the same speed and basic arch of the knuckler. its sort of like a more predictable version of the KN that hitters are already half-expecting. Use of the fastball on the corners to freeze hitters is awesome and the cutter is a great tool, so thats probably all he really needs.

good stuff. stop hanging it. experiment more with the knuckler. i know some great knuckleballers had to basically put all their faith in it and stop trying to supplement it so hard. this guys stuff is better than most knuckleballers so if he can lean more on it and perfect it he could be one of the best ever in that field

He doesn't have good control of the Knuckle. But I don't think I've ever seen a guy throw 94 and still feature a knuckleball

He should throw the knucklers more often because they can barely get a solid bat on it. Though I realize it’s harder on your arm than other pitches.

Always interested to see a knuckleballer pitch, but the Padres must’ve been in a bind roster-wise to bring up Waldron. He hasn’t been good in AAA so far this year. Also, he’s quite a different knuckleballer than any I can remember, in that he used it as a secondary (or even #3) pitch in this outing. Conventional wisdom says that if you’re going to throw the knuckleball it’s going to need to be your main pitch.

i really don’t understand how a pro catcher is so bad at receiving, gary needs to learn to stay back and trust his hands as he receives way too much movement going way out to catch that ball, he works it too out and front and i hope he learns to wait back for the pitch

Wouldn't call him a knuckleballer. He's a pitcher that throws a knuckle occasionally

His knuckle would be better if he trusted it and threw it slower. His fastball is a meatball when he throws it down the middle, he needs to talk to Phil Niekro.

Hes garbage also. Watched him pitch against the angels and he tossed more wild pitched in a game than ive ever seen. He has no control or command.

His control over the knuckle is amazing , but it doesnt move as much as knucles of past

Once he learns to locate that slider and cutter as well as he can the knuckle and fast ball he will be a serious problem his cutter has ridiculous movement

Your pitch calls are off, probably should just leave it out if you are going to be wrong half the time.

So he has a knuckleball he throws but isn’t really a “knuckleball” pitcher.

A knuckleball once in a blue moon is it considered a knuckleballer. Where is all the knuckleballs as the thumbnail indicates

Not really a knuckleballer but a pitcher that throws an occasional knuckleball.

needs to slow the knuckle down a bit. 75-77, 2 seam 85+, slider 80s

Looks like he is tipping his slider and knuckleball pitches. Look at where his pitching hand is on those pitches vs all his others. He slides his pitching hand down further the glove, whereas on his other pitches, his pitching hand stays in the glove. My guess is that is why he didn't stay after this game, they probably have him working on that, since teams probably saw that and they want him to work on it. Hopefully he gets up soon though because we need more knuckleballers in the game. It's a fun pitch.

Hanging the slider for sure

92 mph knuckleball? Dude is NOT a knuckleballer.

The pitch clock alone has gotten me interested in baseball for the first time since playing tball. It allows pitches like this to be more effective.

Throws too many fastballs

a knuckleball pitcher that throws it like 5% of the time and mostly relies on a hanging slider? How is this guy a knuckleballer lol. Throwing a 80mph knuckle with changeup like movement and he was getting a ton of contact on all his knuckles...........idk about this one....

You can tell coaching said to sit fastball after the first couple outs

He's not an actual knuckleballer. Title misrepresents.

can someone list the abbreviations? Im new to the game and would like to know more. thx

Luvs how he challenges the batter.

I mean he's the 2nd mickey Jannis throws a knuckle

That's because he doesn't throw the KN for strikes.

okay so he doesnt throw a 60 mph knuckleball

He should probably learn to throw a change up next

nice highlights. too bad that pitch has been meat lately.

I found my new pitcher!

He leaves a lot hanging in the zone but a great player.

Bottom Line his location is "piss poor" His 4-seamer is average to below average , slider Average, IMO his knuckleball didn't dance know where near what I thought it should. Unless he polishes up his pitches for him to be even somewhat effective in the majors he's going to have find the black of the plate and live there ;-))

Normal 4-seam FASTBALL Good SLIDER Good CUTTER Good KNUCKEL

Welcome to the bigs meat

Cement mixer for a slider, he needs to stick with his fastball, cutter, knuckler and shit can that slider.

You mislabeled a lot of cutters as sliders.

Ever heard of Wakefield of Dickey

I miss don orsillo calling Red Sox games

Someone 'splain to me the difference between cutter and slider; the movement looked the same

More knuckles!!!!

I feel he and some other pitchers may be overcomitting to their slider and his fastball could've been more well placed at times. Those things aside, his cutter and knuckleball were solid!

Well the ump missed the plate like 6 times

Did not look like Wakefield or dickey?

I'm really excited to watch this guy this year. Padres rotation shaped up a hell of a lot better than I expected it to with the addition of Cease.

His fastball is just a bit of a weak point. He needs to use it to throw people off his knuckleball, but his primary pitch should be the knuckle.

See alot of potential. Just gotta find a way to put it all together and stop leaving those fastballs hanging

A knuckleballer who throws normal pitches too. What a unicorn

This guy will get hit hard. The nationals hit a lot of deep fly balls on him imagine what the dodgers would do.

Baseball on carpet is garbage.

He needs to figure out the slider and he could be a great pitcher someday if he keeps himself from bad additude (cough cough) Mickey jannis

He wont last. He tells his fb

Needs to throw the knuckle ball more ppl gotta a hard time making good contact on it

He threw like 3 knuckles, hes a fb /slider guy not a knuckler

that is one nasty pitch

He threw like three knuckleballs... Wakefield threw it every other pitch at least.

why is no one talking about his sinker? that pitch was nasty! throw it more!

He needs to work in the knuckler more often. The hitters were sitting on his fastball too much

Hangs too much in the zone