San Diego Padres starter Matt Waldron has brought the knuckleball back to Major League Baseball and is doing some incredible things this season. On Sunday, he made more noise, by throwing a pitch that broke a record, and some brains.
During a victorious start against the Colorado Rockies, Waldron unleashed a few mind-bending knucklers. One of those pitches had the lowest spin rate every measured by Statcast. It clocked in a 15 rpms. Yes, 15.
This is the lowest spin rate ever measured by Statcast on a Knuckleball: 15 RPMs. pic.twitter.com/cP5BpeL1pG
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 5, 2024
In a world where spiking spin rates are the goal of every pitcher in baseball, Waldron is putting together an excellent season with a pitch that barely rotates.
Video of some other incredible Waldron knuckleballs follows.
Matt Waldron, Back-to-Back Crazy Knuckleballs.
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 4, 2024
All you can do is laugh. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/qyfPsWq7y0
And another.
Matt Waldron, Filthy 82mph Knuckleball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/ZL29f2UsVK
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 4, 2024
Just when hitters think they've dialed in on the knuckler, Waldron unleashes a nasty sweeper.
Matt Waldron, Wicked 82mph Sweeper. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/Ntiy0UAJag
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 4, 2024
So far this season, the 27-year-old is 7-9, with a 3.79 ERA, a 1.15 ERA, and 116 strikeouts against 36 walks in 128 1/3 innings. But that doesn't do his campaign justice. He's been excellent after starting 1-4 with a 5.82 ERA on May 5. Since then, he's 6-5 with a 3.08 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, and 87 strikeouts in 94 1/3 innings.
Waldron has been outstanding this season and his performance has been even more important to the Padres with Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish missing significant time.
With San Diego deeply embedded in the National League playoff picture, we could see knuckleballs like this in the postseason thanks to Waldron.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Matt Waldron Threw Record-Breaking Knuckleball That Was a Thing of Beauty.
