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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Blade Tidwell glanced at the Rays’ lineup and recognized plenty of the names.

This was a representative, major league batting order.

Leadoff hitter Yandy Díaz had been the AL batting champion in 2023.

Batting second was Brandon Lowe, who has a 39-homer season to his name.

Junior Caminero was absent, but Christopher Morel, Josh Lowe, Eloy Jiménez and José Caballero rounded out a top six that will not be radically different from a regular-season Rays’ top six. 

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“It’s always good to see … how I stacked up against a big league squad,” Tidwell said after the 10-1 Mets win at Charlotte Sports Park. “I thought it was going to be fun and going to be a challenge, and it ended up being both.” 

Those Rays batters were more challenged and had less fun. 

One of the Mets’ top pitching prospects announced himself Saturday, when he threw an immaculate second inning — nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts — and put on a strike-throwing and bat-missing clinic. 

Mets prospect Blade Tidwell throws immaculate inning. @MarkWSanchez with the latest Mets updates at spring training. pic.twitter.com/tHD1Ves44Q

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) March 2, 2025

In all, Tidwell faced six batters.

The first, Díaz, hit a sinking liner to center that Jose Siri caught with a dive. The next five all returned to the dugout with their heads down after strikeouts.

Of Tidwell’s final 19 pitches, 18 were strikes. 

“Pretty impressive,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of Tidwell, a big, 6-foot-4 righty. “It was good to see — it was fun.” 

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Tidwell had everything working on the afternoon.

His sinker nearly touched triple digits, and four other offerings were similarly untouchable.

He had a larger, nine-pitch arsenal last year, when he reached Triple-A Syracuse but struggled (5.93 ERA at the level) because he believes his repertoire was too deep. 

This spring, he has boiled it down to a four-seamer, two-seamer, slider, changeup and sweeper.

Each one baffled Tampa Bay hitters. 

Tidwell’s first inning was solid and ended with a three-pitch strikeout of Morel.

He continued that domination in a blazing second inning. 

Josh Lowe saw three pitches and cut through a slider moving south. Jiménez was the unfortunate victim of Tidwell’s hardest heater, swinging through a 99.1 mph fastball. 

“Up and away,” said Tidwell, who added he reached back to add some humph. “That’s the only pitch that I remember that I really hammered down.” 

Caballero — with 243 games of major league experience — did not look like a major leaguer with a weak, half-hack at a sweeper that bent away from him. 

“I feel like I can stack up with the best of them if I’m commanding the ball,” said Tidwell, a second-round pick out of Tennessee in 2022, “and that’s what I’m just trying to work on, day in and day out.” 

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Immaculate innings are rare — the Mets only have two in their history (Nolan Ryan in 1968 and David Cone in 1991) — and often more of a one-off novelty than a reflection of a pitcher’s worth. 

Yet, the kind of excellence the Mets have seen from their young starting pitching prospects over the past two days is encouraging for a team that might need them. 

The Mets already have at least temporarily lost Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas.

Kodai Senga is a mystery after his wiped-out 2024 season.

Who knows how many innings Clay Holmes can contribute as he transitions from a reliever to a starter.

David Peterson threw 121 major league innings last year, a career high. 

Maybe the Mets will need Tidwell earlier than they might envision. Maybe Brandon Sproat — who made his spring debut Friday and sat down all six Nationals batters he faced while maxing out at 99 mph — will get an early call.

Maybe similarly high-ceilinged Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong force their ways to the majors, and maybe a pitcher such as Dom Hamel — who has retooled his delivery and looked strong Saturday, when he followed Tidwell by throwing two scoreless, hitless, three-strikeout, one-walk innings — is summoned for a rotation that needs help. 

“Full trust in our player development group,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. 

For the Mets, the past two days have been immaculate. 

“That’s a good feeling when you have two guys like that at the Triple-A level knocking on the door,” Mendoza added.