New York Mets select Tennessee pitcher Blade Tidwell in 2022 MLB Draft

The Tennessee Volunteers have had a number of their top players already selected in tonight’s 2022 MLB Draft. They just had another one drafted as the New York Mets snatched up pitcher Blake Tidwell in Round 2 with the No. 52 overall selection in the draft.

The former Volunteer standout was named to the NCAA Knoxville Regional All-Tournament team after throwing a career-best 7.2 innings vs. Alabama State, holding the Hornets scoreless, while fanning a season-high seven batters in a winning effort. Against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, Tidwell struck out five batters and didn’t allow a hit in three innings of work on May 20.

In 18 starts as a freshman last year, he posted a 3.74 ERA and a 2.65 strikeout-to-walk ratio while displaying pitches that included a fastball in the mid-90s and a nice slider. Tidwell landed on numerous freshman All-American lists following his successful debut season with the Volunteers.

He was rated as the 27th-ranked prospect in this year’s draft on MLB Pipeline’s prospect board. The sophomore pitcher fanned 51 batters in 39 innings of work this year. He also ranked among CBS Sports’ preseason list of top-50 draftees heading into the 2022 season. The 6-foot-4, 207-pounder was also pegged by numerous media outlets as a preseason first team All-American before the 2022 campaign.

Tidwell had to miss the start of the 2022 season for Tennessee due to shoulder soreness, according to Zack Rickens of the Knoxville CBS Affiliate WVLT.

Coming out of high school, the Loretto, Tennessee native was rated as the No. 71 player in America by Perfect Game and the No. 22 ranked right-handed pitcher in the nation. Tidwell was named Mr. Baseball in 2019 for the state of Tennessee in Class A. His pitching velocity was clocked at 97 miles per hour in high school.