Turlock native Blake Cederlind seems to have found his footing in the Texas League as he continues his bid to return to Major League Baseball.
Cederlind, who signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks in early April, is wrapping up his first month with Double-A Amarillo. This past week has been his best since returning to professional baseball for the first time in three years.
Over his last two outings out of the Sod Poodles bullpen, Cederlind has held opponents scoreless while collecting a pair of saves, his first since he was a highly touted prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system seven years ago.
Against Corpus Christi last Sunday he earned his first professional save since Aug. 18, 2019 with a clean inning in Amarillo’s 5-2 victory. On Wednesday night, he shut the door against San Antonio by striking out the final two batters on 100 mph fastballs to secure the 7-6 win. He proceeded to walk off the mound while letting out a yell and nodding his head repeatedly in approval of his own dominant performance.
It was a scene that Pirates fans had become familiar with between 2016 and 2020, when the flamethrower out of Turlock High and Merced College was a candidate to be the big league club’s closer of the future. He ended up pitching in five major league games for the Pirates during the 2020 campaign.
The right-hander now sports a 3.38 ERA with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings over six appearances with Amarillo, while occasionally touching 102 mph on the radar gun. He also remains perfect in save opportunities.
Cederlind acknowledged the newfound confidence he finds himself with when he discussed his comeback attempt with the Journal last month.
“I feel as confident as ever,” he said. “I've always been a pretty competitive guy, I get a lot of adrenaline on the mound, and things just sync up for me. And so far, things have been really good. I feel like I’m in a really good spot right now.”
After the 2020 season, Cederlind underwent Tommy John surgery. During his rehab, he required a second operation on the throwing elbow and wound up sidelined for two years before he was eventually released in 2023. Later that year, he inked a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, but was also soon cut and would later have surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
Cederlind is expected to be available out of the bullpen for the Sod Poodles on either Saturday and Sunday as the club wraps its six-game series against San Antonio.
