LHP Ricky Tiedemann showed no ill effects from a three week layoff in his first Eastern League start last night.
Tiedemann, who last pitched in the Future Game, retired 7 of the first 9 hitters he faced – 5 via strikeout – in a pitch count monitored three inning stint.
Tiedemann spent some of his downtime at the pitching lab in Dunedin, and it appears to have resulted in a Slider with more sweep to it:
Over his three innings of work, Tiedemann walked one and allowed only one hit. He’s the youngest player currently on an active Eastern League roster. His change up showed improved movement, too. He seemed to be going with the off speed stuff a bit more than usual, which helped make his 94-96 (touched 97) FB even more effective.
There’s no doubt that Tiedemann’s name came up frequently ahead of this past week’s trade deadline, but it’s just as likely that that was a non-starter as far as the Blue Jays were concerned.
