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Giants Newly Acquired Prospect Has Electric Debut With Triple-A Sacramento

Originally posted on San Francisco Giants on SI
By Kenneth Teape | Last updated Aug 6, 2025 1:57 PM ET

The San Francisco Giants were a surprisingly active team ahead of the MLB trade deadline, but not in the fashion many would have predicted.

After making a massive splash in mid-June, acquiring Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, the Giants looked destined to be a team that would aggressively look for upgrades again when the MLB trade deadline approached at the end of July.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey had shown on multiple occasions his willingness to aggressively pursue upgrades and it was expected he would continue doing that.

Alas, the team’s production cratered since acquiring Devers and Posey did the smart thing, pivoting and adjusting the game plan.

Giants Get Great Value For Tyler Rogers

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Instead of buying, San Francisco sold a few pieces to bring back some long-term assets.

One of the players who was on the move is star relief pitcher Tyler Rogers, who was traded to the New York Mets in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jose Butto, right-handed pitching prospect Blade Tidwell and outfielder prospect Drew Gilbert.

The return was viewed very positively for the Giants, with analysts and fans alike believing they did an excellent job extracting as much value for Rogers, who is an impeding free agent, as posible.

The Giants have to feel even better about the deal after seeing what Tidwell did in his debut with their Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento RiverCats.

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A second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft out of the Unviersity of Tennessee, he showcased the elite stuff that he possesses with his arsenal.

Tidwell pitched five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. He mowed down nine batters, with his entire repertoire being on point.

As shared by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, he reached 98.5 mph on his fastball and his breaking pitches were generating the kind of whiff rate that teams would come to expect from top of the rotation arms.

There were 11 swings and misses created by his slider and sweeper.

Blade Tidwell (the Tyler Rogers trade) struck out 9 and allowed 2 runs over 5 innings in his River Cats debut. Fastball hit 98.5 mph and he got 11 swinging strikes with his slider and sweeper: pic.twitter.com/LNqrrHKfZ8
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 6, 2025

The raw stuff that Tidwell possesses is tantilizing and San Francsico could certainly have a long-term piece for their starting rotation to build around.

It will be interesting to see how long they keep him down in Triple-A for, as he got his first taste of the Big Leagues earlier this year with the Mets.

His short MLB stint didn’t go great with a 9.00 ERA across 15 innings. There were some self-inflicted wounds issuing 10 walks, but oppnents were hitting him hard with 23 base hits, including four home runs.

Work remains to refine his skills, but the tools are there for him to be a successful pitcher at the MLB level.