There is a lot of focus on the position-player prospects in the Mets¡¯ system these days -- and rightly so. The organization added Luisangel Acu?a, Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford and Marco Vargas (among others) at the Trade Deadline, building out a system that has seen a breakout from Jett Williams and the Major League arrival of Ronny Mauricio.

But there are arms here, too, including No. 10 prospect Blade Tidwell, who has flashed an impressive arsenal early in his career.

Taken in the second round last year out of Tennessee, the 22-year-old right-hander sports a 31.5 percent strikeout rate between High-A Brooklyn and Double-A Binghamton this season -- a number that ranks sixth among 182 Minor League full-season qualifiers. His 3.42 ERA trails only Tyler Stuart¡¯s 2.20 among Mets Minor League qualifiers, and after tossing five scoreless frames (during which he punched out nine) Tuesday against Reading, he¡¯s up to a robust 115 2/3 innings in his first full season with the Eastern League postseason still to come.

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¡°Blade was blessed with really good stuff,¡± said Binghamton pitching coach A.J. Sager. ¡°He focuses very well, prepares very well, does everything to check every box. He just needs experience, and that¡¯s what we¡¯re trying to give him.¡±

Speaking ahead of the Game of the Month in August at Binghamton¡¯s Mirabito Stadium, Tidwell walked MLB Pipeline through his four pitches, their grips and what¡¯s made them work across two levels in 2023.

FASTBALL

The right-hander -- a high-school teammate of Ryan Weathers¡¯ at Loretto (Tenn.) High School -- went unselected in the shortened five-round 2020 Draft and headed to the University of Tennessee with a fastball that could touch the low-90s but needed instant work with its movement profile.

¡°In college, I had a flat heater that hitters probably licked their chops before they went to the batter¡¯s box to face,¡± he said. ¡°But now ... I¡¯ve fixed it to where it had more ride. So my axis, instead of being flat, it¡¯s more [where] I can backspin the ball. It stays on plane longer, so if it¡¯s at the belt, [there¡¯s] a lot of swing-and-miss under it. Then if it¡¯s at the knees, [there are] a lot of takes because they think it¡¯s going to be below the zone.¡±

Tidwell noted the change occurred in his four-seamer between his freshman and sophomore years as a Volunteer, and his K rate jumping from 22.2 percent in 2021 to 32.3 a year later bears that out. These days, he can touch 98 mph but says he is at his best when the fastball averages around 95. He aims for 18 inches of induced vertical break and gets the occasional 22 inches, which can lead to some ugly swings on pitches in the upper-third or above the zone.

Just don¡¯t expect him to run to the iPad in the middle of a start to see how his fastball is clocking in.

¡°I¡¯m an analytic psychopath during the week,¡± he said, ¡°and then during the game, I don¡¯t look at it all. I think that¡¯s the good balance. Go out there and be a competitor whenever the time comes. But if you can do that and then the analytical [later], I think that is most beneficial. A lot of people have trouble separating the two, and that¡¯s where it can get a little bit tricky.¡±

SLIDER

The slider has been considered Tidwell¡¯s second 60-grade pitch since his days as a Vol, but the breaker he throws now is different than the one from his days in Knoxville.

About a week after getting to the Mets¡¯ facility in Port St. Lucie following the Draft, Tidwell was having difficulty finding consistency with the slider and expressed that to then-Mets complex pitching coordinator (and current Triple-A pitching coach) Kyle Driscoll, who offered a new grip similar to a two-seamer with fingers slightly offset the seams. Tidwell adjusted his thumb further toward the side of the ball for additional comfort and knew quickly this was the new-look slider for him.

¡°I threw it, and my catch partner missed it,¡± said Tidwell, who added that he believes said partner was 6-foot-10 pitcher Paul Gervase. ¡°And then, I never threw my other one again. I completely bagged it.¡±

In the year-plus Tidwell has thrown the semi-new low-80s slider, it has continued to fall into the categorization of a pitch with which many baseball fans are becoming more familiar.

¡°I have a sweeper with an unorthodox grip,¡± he said. ¡°My ball stays on plane, kind of like a cutter, but it sweeps quite a bit more -- anywhere from 13-20 inches. That means it just goes and takes a left turn, whereas a lot of pitchers have depth on theirs. So I get a lot of swing-and-miss under and over, just depends on where the pitch is located which works to my advantage.¡±

CURVEBALL

The slider isn't Tidwell¡¯s only effective breaker, although there are days when it truly dominates. The hurler noted that he¡¯s long been tinkering with a curveball and locked in a feel around June or July of this summer. The grip starts with a four-seam look with his two primary fingers tucked tightly on the rounded part of the horseshoe.

¡°That¡¯s how I threw my slider in college, except I rotate the ball a little downward so I can get more depth, and that way, it¡¯s more like a slurve,¡± Tidwell said.

It¡¯s that added layer of depth that separates the curve from the slider. The two pitches can bleed into one another -- although the curveball typically dips more into the 70s -- but even the smallest difference can keep a hitter from getting too comfortable. Tidwell noted that in an Aug. 22 start at New Hampshire he threw 10-12 curveballs (up from his typical usage) because he was starting to feel more consistency with it.

¡°You have to get a feel for things, and it just felt really good, so that¡¯s what I rode with,¡± he said. ¡°I like going back-to-back curveball-slider or slider-curveball because the depth¡¯s different but the speeds are similar.¡±

CHANGEUP

¡°I think I¡¯m a little weird, and it¡¯s a little weird.¡±

Ask a Mets official about what Tidwell has done best in 2023, and many will say developing the cambio has been big. But that take from the pitcher himself on his new changeup grip is a unique one.

Brooklyn pitching coach Victor Ramos taught Tidwell the grip he used during his time on the bump -- the pointer and ring fingers rest on the middle edges of the ball with the middle finger placed directly on top before the ball rotates toward the outside of the hand -- and the prospect latched on, perhaps only partly because of his personality.

¡°When I come through, I can feel it come off this finger and get that sidespin that kills vert," he said.

The upper-70s to low-80s pitch once averaged around 11 inches of IVB, which isn¡¯t ideal for an offering that needs to dip below bats, but now the average settles in around one inch with the occasional negative IVB popping up in the analytics.

The effectiveness remains a work in progress. Double-A lefties are hitting .317/.394/.556 off Tidwell since his Binghamton arrival on Aug. 2, compared to the .167/.306/.383 line put up by righties over the same seven starts, but finding something Tidwell can be comfortable with is half the battle.

¡°It¡¯s probably my favorite thing to throw right now, maybe because it¡¯s newer.¡±