Brandon Waddell Makes Major League Debut After Whirlwind Weekend
INDIANAPOLIS – After being placed on the 60-man roster on Aug. 7 and earning his first career call-up two days later, former Tribe southpaw Brandon Waddell made his major league debut on Friday at Cincinnati. He is the third member of 2019 Triple-A squad to make his debut this season,
INDIANAPOLIS – After being placed on the 60-man roster on Aug. 7 and earning his first career call-up two days later, former Tribe southpaw Brandon Waddell made his major league debut on Friday at Cincinnati. He is the third member of 2019 Triple-A squad to make his debut this season, following RHPs Cody Ponce and JT Brubaker.
The 26-year-old made his debut in the seventh inning in relief of Chris Stratton. With a runner on first base, Waddell got the punchout of Jesse Winker to get out of the inning. He surrendered one run on two hits and struck out two in 1.1 innings of work.
After spending most of 2018 as a starter with both Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona, Waddell joined the bullpen on Indy’s Opening Day roster in 2019. He compiled 37 strikeouts in 30.0 innings over 21 relief appearances to begin the season for the Tribe.
On June 18, Waddell was assigned to Altoona in hopes of rejoining the rotation in Indianapolis. Over seven Double-A starts he shined with a 3-1 record, 2.23 ERA (9er/36.1ip) and 42 strikeouts. He returned to the Circle City mound on July 28 and went 2-5, his two wins coming as quality starts.
The left-hander made his final appearance of 2019 once again out of the bullpen and earned his first career save on Sept. 2 at Louisville (2.0ip, 2k).
The Texas native was selected by the Pirates in the fifth round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia.