Matt Waldron, Padres feel their way through the ups and downs of the knuckleball

As the only knuckleballer in the major leagues, the Padres' right-hander is the ultimate changeup

Ruben Niebla was a pitching coach at Double-A Akron a dozen years ago when a young Steven Wright arrived in the Eastern League looking to see if the knuckleball he threw could unlock a path to the majors. Niebla had already begun to establish himself as an up-and-coming mind on pitching, so what he told Wright was sure to carry weight as his great experiment began: “You know how I coach knuckleballers?' Niebla told him. 'I don’t.

The feeling he had as Yonathan Perlaza circled the bases remains seared in the back of Waldron's mind. “I felt like my hands were tied behind my back,” Waldron recalled “I was so upset.” It was around that time that Waldron connected with the late Tim Wakefield for a crash course on the outiler pitch. During a two-hour video call, the two talked fingernails, finger pressure and mechanics.

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