On Wednesday night, Brandon Waddell proved to himself that he still has major league innings in his left arm.
The New York Mets called up Waddell from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day, and he took the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks after opener Huascar Brazobán.
It was Waddell’s first major league game since July 9, 2021, with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He entered in the third inning and pitched 4.1 innings, allowing three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts.
Waddell struck out Josh Naylor to start the seventh inning, then left with one out, a 1-0 lead, and a chance for his first major league win. The bullpen couldn’t hold onto the slim lead, and the Diamondbacks won 4-3.
Following the game, Waddell discussed his efforts.
“I think I can pitch here, and that was one of the reasons I really wanted to come back,” he said in a video shared by SNY. “To be able to do that is pretty cool”
Waddell, 30, was a fifth-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2015 MLB Draft. He appeared in 11 major league games for four teams in 2020, including the Orioles, Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Minnesota Twins, and went 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in 12.2 innings.
Released by the Cardinals in mid-2022, he finished the season in the Korean Baseball Organization, split the 2023 season between teams in China and Korea, and returned to the KBO in 2024.
In three seasons abroad, he started 55 games, going 28-15 with a 3.05 ERA in 315 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out 275 batters.
The Mets signed him to a minor league contract in December, and he started five games at Syracuse, going 1-1 with a 1.54 ERA.
He said Wednesday night that he enjoyed hearing the Mets fans’ applause as he walked off the field.
“Something I definitely didn’t expect,” he told me. “You can feel it as a player. It means a lot to have such support. “It’s something we always treasure.”
