Padres’ Matt Waldron Had Fans in Awe With the Nastiest Knuckleball of the MLB Season

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San Diego Padres right-handed pitcher Matt Waldron continues to be one of the coolest pitchers in baseball and it's all becacuse of one pitch that he has mastered—the knuckleball.
Waldron has been baffling hitters for a while now with a pitch that often travels at pretty low speeds but with really low spin rates that make it look like the ball is dancing through the air.
He threw a beautiful one for a called strike during Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that his catcher had a tough time grabbing. Good on the ump for making the right call on this nasty pitch:
Matt Waldron's Knuckleball doesn't look real. pic.twitter.com/u0Uer3T1LZ
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 4, 2024
Fans loved it:
This pitch just rewrote the laws of physics 😳😳 https://t.co/m314amaWRI
— Linda (@ninergirl783) June 4, 2024
Cannot stop watching this. https://t.co/FDqOdUIM9K
— Benjamin Hart (@realaxelfoley) June 4, 2024
This brings to mind Bob Uecker’s description of the best way to catch a knuckleball:
— NeroSteptoe (@NeroSteptoe) June 4, 2024
“Wait until it stops rolling and go back and pick it up.” https://t.co/mSMf4on6nz
literally laughed out loud https://t.co/7DyGV2xvpt
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) June 4, 2024
Lmao what https://t.co/y8AJSfQIE5
— Zak (@zakyychan) June 4, 2024
It actually fluttered. https://t.co/m3v5goUMiS
— Damon Bruce (@DamonBruce) June 4, 2024
I have watched this about 50 times in a row. Impossible https://t.co/7xT7iMdhd9
— Lord Mitchell Martin Bailey (@mitchellb96) June 4, 2024

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.
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