Matt Waldron Blanks Hitters for 12 Scoreless Innings in PCL
Matt Waldron has not allowed a run in 12 PCL innings on rehab, barely throwing his knuckleball while keeping the Padres' return timeline in focus.
Twelve innings in the Pacific Coast League, zero runs allowed. For Matt Waldron, that number carries extra weight in a circuit notorious for punishing pitchers at altitude with thin air and hitter-friendly dimensions.
The 29-year-old right-hander, on a rehab assignment with the El Paso Chihuahuas after landing on the San Diego Padres' 15-day injured list with a lower body injury, has been methodically building back through the Triple-A ranks without surrendering a single run. His ERA sits at 0.00 across three appearances, and he has yet to issue a walk.
What makes the stretch more striking is how Waldron has gone about it. Known throughout his career for leaning heavily on a knuckleball that once occupied more than 80 percent of his pitch usage, Waldron has largely shelved it during this rehab stretch. Across his first two El Paso starts, he mixed a four-seam fastball, sinker, cutter, and sweeper, with only a single out recorded on a knuckleball. His fastball averaged 93 mph in that stretch, with his sinker touching 92.
The opening act came March 28 in Sacramento, where Waldron tossed three shutout innings against the River Cats, allowing two hits and striking out three without a walk on 37 pitches, 25 for strikes. El Paso won that game 9-3 as part of a dominant season opener, with Jase Bowen adding the team's first home run of the year in the seventh inning.
Waldron has been expanding his workload with each outing as he builds back toward a starting role. The Chihuahuas' rotation has given him the runway: El Paso's staff also features Marco Gonzales, J.P. Sears, and Triston McKenzie, offering depth while Waldron progresses on his own timeline.
The PCL has long been a league where gaudy offensive numbers obscure the talent of pitchers grinding through rehab. Waldron's 12 scoreless innings cut against that grain entirely. For the Padres, watching a pitcher they re-signed in the offseason locate command and velocity without giving up a run is exactly the kind of report card that accelerates return timelines.
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