Who is Matt Waldron? Padres knuckleballer to make MLB debut vs Nationals

The San Diego Padres are calling up pitching prospect Matt Waldron to start Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals. This will be the young right-handed pitcher's MLB debut.

One thing to note about Waldron is that he's not a typical starting pitcher, he's a knuckleballer. His debut on Saturday will be the first time a knuckleballer has pitched in the league since 2021 when Mickey Jannis appeared for the Baltimore Orioles.

Matt Waldron was selected in the 18th round of the 2019 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians. Coming up in the draft, he didn't throw a knuckleball. He threw a traditional low 90s fastball with some offspeed stuff. It wasn't until 2021 that he started to mess around with the knuckleball.

After experimenting with the pitch and seeing its effectiveness on data-tracking machines like Rapsodo, his teammates encouraged him to keep working on it. Eventually, he became confident enough to throw it in a game; and the rest was history.

This is something every baseball player thinks they have in their back pocket. Even infielders and outfielders occasionally throw a knuckleball while warming up.

But it's a hard pitch to master, and if there's even a slight rotation to the pitch, the ball looks like a little league fastball and usually gets sent out of the stadium.

Matt Waldron will be a sight to see for the Padres

San Diego Padres v San Francisco Giants

San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael Wacha was originally scheduled to get the start on Saturday against the Washinton Nationals. But he's dealing with shoulder fatigue and will have his start rescheduled.

With Matt Waldron getting the nod instead, this will be something baseball fans won't want to miss. Knuckleball pitchers bring a different element to the game, and it's truly a spectacle for fans to watch and enjoy.