Tag: Matt Waldron

Matt Waldron’s gravity-defying knuckleball played out like a cruel joke on Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka

Never seen a knuckleball do THAT in mid-air.

It’s been years since MLB has seen a pitcher throw the knuckleball with as much consistency as Padres pitcher Matt Waldron has this season. And while fans have absolutely loved watching that knuckleball in action, it can be mayhem for catchers.

Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka would probably agree with that.

Waldron was on the mound for San Diego in Saturday’s game against the Diamondbacks. And during José Herrera’s second-inning at-bat, Waldron’s knuckleball seemingly left his hand with spin before hitting the brakes in mid-air for that aggressive knuckleball action. Of course, all that movement threw Higashioka off as he desperately tried to follow the knuckleball’s trajectory.

If you told me this was a practical joke on Higashioka, I would have believed you.

The knuckleball would hit the heel of Higashioka’s glove for the most unfortunate of passed balls. Like, did the official scorer see that pitch?! I wouldn’t blame Higashioka for struggling with it.

Fans, though, could not stop watching the replay. Physics did not apply to that knuckleball.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Trio of Husker take the mound on Monday night

Matt Waldron, Cade Povich and Spencer Schwellenbach all earned a start on Monday evening.

The Nebraska baseball team experienced a wild Monday night in Major League Baseball, with three former Huskers taking the mound for their respective teams. Matt Waldron, Cade Povich and Spencer Schwellenbach all earned a start on Monday evening.

Matt Waldron led the way on the night in his 16th start this season, pitching 6.0 innings for the San Diego Padres against the Washington Nationals. He finished the night with eight strikeouts while allowing five hits and two runs off 107 pitches.

On the season, Waldron has 84 strikeouts across 89.1 innings and has an ERA of 3.43. He received a no-decision in the Padres win.

Cade Povich started his fourth game for the Baltimore Orioles this season, facing off against the Cleveland Guardians on a late afternoon Monday. Povich pitched 5.2 innings and threw five strikeouts while allowing seven hits and three runs off 92 pitches.

On the season, he’s pitched 21.2 innings, thrown 14 strikeouts, and has an ERA of 4.15. Povich currently has a record of 0-2.

Spencer Schwellenbach earned his fifth start of the season and his second against the Washington Nationals. He pitched 5.0 innings for the Atlanta Braves and threw six strikeouts but allowed eight hits and four runs off 86 pitches.

On the season, Schwellenbach now holds a record of 1-3 on the season. He has thrown 25 strikeouts and has a 5.40 ERA across 26.2 innings.

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Matt Waldron confounded his own Padres catcher with a devious knuckleball

That is one hard knuckleball to catch.

Matt Waldron continues to fool batters AND his own teammate with his knuckleballs.

We’ve seen him confound Luis Campusano with the pitch that barely rotates and looks so mesmerizing in slow motion, and on Monday, it was Kyle Higashioka’s turn — he took a 77 MPH offering from Waldron that he tracked correctly with his glove … and then watched as it bounced off his hand into the corner.

The best news for him and Waldron? It was a strike even if he didn’t catch it. That worked out great, and it gave us a highlight to enjoy. Win, win, win, I’d say.

Here it is:

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