SI

Padres’ Matt Waldron Threw a Historically Filthy Knuckleball for a Strike, and It Was Beautiful

Tim Capurso

Waldron has a 3.86 ERA in two starts this season.
Waldron has a 3.86 ERA in two starts this season. / Lachlan Cunningham/GettyImages
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Everyone loves a good knuckleball.

San Diego Padres pitcher Matt Waldron gave the people what they wanted-and then some, as he hurled a historically filthy knuckleball in his second start of the year during Sunday's 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

Facing Giants outfielder Michael Conforto with the count even at 1-1 in the first inning, Waldron unleashed the nasty knuckler, which traveled at a speed of 77 mph and recorded just 64 revolutions per minute.

Not only was Waldron's knuckleball beautiful to behold, but the pitch also featured the lowest spin rate on a knuckleball and called strike in the history of the Statcast era, which began in 2015, according to Rob Friedman on X, formerly Twitter.

Later in the fourth inning, Waldron tossed a 75.6 mph knuckleball that spun at just 28 rpm, but it was called a ball.

Of his 85 pitches, Waldron threw the knuckler 26 times, generating a pair of whiffs and five called strikes. The Omaha, Neb., native tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five batters.

Oh, and he threw one perfect knuckleball.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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