It was a frustrating evening for the Mets in their 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday, but Brandon Waddell was an unlikely bright spot.
The veteran left-hander hadn’t pitched in the majors in four years before he was called upon to be the team’s long reliever on Wednesday and he was better than probably anyone expected. In his 12th major league appearance, the 30-year-old pitched 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing only three hits, no walks, and striking out four batters.
“Good to be back,” Waddell said after the game. “I said in spring training that I can pitch here, and that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to come back. To be able to do that is pretty cool.”
“Unbelievable. For him to go back out for the seventh and still a 1-0 ballgame there,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Waddell’s game. “Makes his pitches, gets them off balance, in and off to miss barrels. Changeups down and away. I thought he was really really good.”
Waddell spent two-and-a-half years playing overseas, which he says is where he learned how to be a pitcher and kept his desire to make it back to the majors alive.
That experience certainly helped on Wednesday as the left-hander said he attacked hitters and tried to be as efficient as possible to put the Mets in a position to win. Waddell threw 40 of his 60 pitches for strikes, and when he walked off the mound in the seventh, the Citi Field crowd of more than 31,000 gave him a standing ovation.
“It’s awesome. It’s something I definitely didn’t expect, but you can feel it,” he said of the moment. “As a player, it means a lot to have that support. It’s something that we always cherish.”
Waddell’s 4.1 innings and four strikeouts were career highs, and his outing was the longest by a Mets reliever since Nelson Figueroa in August 2009. He also became the 15th player in franchise history to throw 4.0 innings or more scoreless innings in their Mets debut.
With his performance on Wednesday and injuries to left-handers A.J. Minter and Danny Young, perhaps Waddell can find his way into the Mets’ plans. But no matter what happens, Waddell is enjoying his moment.
“It’s a lot of fun really. This game is pretty cool. You don’t know where it’s going to take you and the different things it’ll teach you,” Waddell said. “To have that journey is pretty special, and to be back is a lot of fun.”
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