MLB fans loved watching Padres catcher Luis Campusano get completely baffled trying to catch Matt Waldron's knuckleball
You could see the concentration in his eyes.
The knuckleball is truly a lost art when it comes to the modern game of baseball. In a generation where teams rely on analytics, velocity and location, the unpredictability of the knuckleball just doesn’t work well with today’s MLB.
It’s why there is just one active pitcher who throws a knuckleball as a primary pitch. That pitcher is Padres starter Matt Waldron. And though Waldron’s pitch distribution is more diverse than the traditional knuckleball pitcher, the knuckleball accounted for roughly 27 percent of his pitches last season and 45 percent on Monday night.
That unfortunately meant a wild evening behind the plate for Padres catcher Luis Campusano.
Though I’d love to see more pitchers break out a knuckleball, that clip right there probably shows why it’s such a rarity in pro baseball. Waldron threw a middle-middle knuckleball on an eventual strikeout of Nolan Gorman, but it was still utterly difficult for Campusano to catch.
The Cardinals also scored four runs on nine hits against Waldron, so they were able to time him up as the night went on.
Still, fans did enjoy that clip because knuckleballs are so fun (unless you’re a catcher).