Pitcher Mentored By Ex-Red Sox Tim Wakefield Ready For Fenway Debut

The San Diego Padres this weekend will play at Fenway Park for the first time since 2013, and it will be a special moment for their pitcher who shared a special bond with a Boston Red Sox legend.

Tim Wakefield was one of the most well-known hurlers of the knuckleball, which has become a little-used pitch in today’s game that prioritizes spin rate and velocity. Matt Waldron is keeping that tradition alive, and the 27-year-old credited the late Red Sox legend for helping him out in his career.

The Athletic’s Dennis Lin on Friday released a feature on Waldron that revealed that former Padres director of pitching development Steven Lyons helped connect Waldron to Wakefield in 2021 to set up a Zoom call.

“Once I saw just what a nice guy he was,” Waldron told Lin, “it was very enjoyable.”

Waldron admitted to Lin he grew up a Red Sox fan and played as Wakefield in a video game. It wasn’t until 2021 that he truly strived to add knuckleball to his arsenal, and he and Wakefield spoke for over two hours about “finger pressure, mechanics and routines.”

Wakefield continued to keep in touch while Waldron worked on the knuckleball in the minors, and on Sunday, he’ll get to fulfill his dream of starting at Fenway Park.

“I’m hoping to feel that presence or whatever you want to say,” Waldron said. “Just how the world goes around, kind of. I want to experience it all.”

Waldron’s knuckleball makes up 38.8% of his pitching arsenal, according to Statcast. The right-hander mixes in a four-seamer and a sweeper, but Red Sox fans will see a knuckleballer for the first time since 2019 when Steven Wright was in Boston.

This weekend also features a homecoming for Xander Bogaerts, which makes the Red Sox-Padres series must-watch.