Conversations with the Herd: Ricky Tiedemann

By: Brian Frank

Ricky Tiedemann is finally back on the Sahlen Field mound. The Blue Jays’ tenth ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, had Tommy John surgery in July 2024 and has been working his way back ever since.

Tiedemann fired a scoreless inning of relief for the Bisons on Wednesday night against Norfolk, retiring the Tides on just 11 pitches.

“I felt great,” Tiedemann told The Herd Chronicles following the outing. “It was really refreshing to get back out there. Obviously, it's been like two years since I've been here in Buffalo, so just being here with the team, even though it's newer guys, just being out here and being able to watch the game, even when I'm not pitching, is just something that's refreshing. Finally, rather than being in rehab, it's special to just be back out playing the game you love.”

The 6’4” left-hander’s four-seam fastball was touching 97.8 mph against Norfolk, and he complemented it with his devastating sweeper.

“There was a lot of work done during that that rehab process, and in making sure you could come back and be dialed in and in the zone immediately, rather taking a couple games,” he said. “Like a lot of people say, it takes some games, and that's natural. But you want to be the guy that can go out there and just start getting it in the zone immediately. So it was definitely something I wanted to do, and I think I did pretty well. There's some improvements to be made, but I thought it went well for the first time.”

Looking on from the Bisons' dugout. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

Tiedemann pitched in four rehab games before arriving in Buffalo—two each for the Rookie League FCL Blue Jays and Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays. He feels like he’s reached point where he can pitch with a clear mind and not worry about his health.

“I've definitely reached a level where it's just about going out there and competing now, not really having to worry about how I'm feeling,” he said. “I think we've moved past it finally, so I could get back to just competing, getting outs, and helping the team win. That's just the most fun part about it, just getting back to that point.”

The Blue Jays’ third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Tiedemann has a 2.98 ERA and 1.069 WHIP with 233 strikeouts across 145 career minor-league innings. He believes that throwing strikes early in the count is the key to his success.

“I mean, for me, it's always just getting ahead on guys,” he explained. “Buying those mistakes by getting ahead early. Getting that first even second pitch strike, that's going to buy you so many mistakes later in the at-bat when you go deeper. But for me, it's obviously having my fastball in the zone. Slider, that's the pitch I can drop in there usually first pitch strike. So as long as I'm feeling those and then having that changeup to fall off of it, if they're all somewhat in the zone or around the zone, I think I can work with it. But having all of them dialed in is definitely a plus.”

Prior to this season, all 45 of Tiedemann’s professional pitching appearances were as a starting pitcher—but now, for this season at least, he’s focused on pitching out of the bullpen.

“For right now, out of the pen is the way to do it for me," he said. "I think just feeling good and helping the team win, whether that's an inning at a time, and then work from there. Hopefully next year, maybe get another ramp up as a starter—but it's whatever the team needs at this point.”

Of course, his approach to pitching an inning or two as a reliever is different from working as a starter.

“As a reliever, it's definitely less about leading up to the game, researching the guys you're facing, and more about just being ready when the team needs it, and making sure you're warm and ready to go when that inning comes,” he said. “Because you never really know your starter could get banged around a little bit, and then you got to come in in the second or the third, rather than the sixth or the seventh or the eighth or the ninth. So, just figuring that part of it out and making sure your process can allow you to be ready at any point in the game—that's the biggest thing for me right now.”

On the Sahlen Field mound back in 2023. Photo Credit: Brian Frank, The Herd Chronicles

It was 756 days between Tiedemann’s appearances with the Bisons. The fireballer says the hardest part of the long rehab process was not being able to compete with his teammates.

“[Most] challenging part, I think it would be just time down, seeing everybody else play and have fun," he said. "For me, it's just wanting to get back out there and play again and just compete with the guys and win some games. It was just tough to see that happen, and you have to sit on the sideline and focus on your health first before getting there. So for me, that was the biggest thing. It was tough not being able to compete, even though you know you want to and you know you can.”

However, he made the most of his time away from the playing field by making some small changes that should help his performance and long-term health.

“There were obstacles when it came to my elbow and having some joint issues coming off of my off speed, whether that be the slider or the changeup,” he said. “Figuring out what grip allowed the movement to be the same while alleviating some of that pressure on the elbow. We went through a couple of those and found a good happy medium where I can still feel the same getting in the zone with all those pitches, but then also not having anything to think about health-wise. So I definitely did that with my slider, changed the grip a little bit, pulled back on the seams a little bit, and got it to where I needed it to be, and just rode with it from there.”

He believes the biggest improvements he made during his time away from the field came in his preparation and overall approach.

“I would think maturity level within the process, whether that be weightlifting, whether that be lineup research, whether that be even your own pitch and personal mentality off the field,” he said. “Just all of those things combined can kind of change you as a player out on the field. So I think all of that off the field with the family, relationship with friends, teammates, being able to reach out and get back to people. That stuff really translates when it comes to being able to get back out here and help the team win and being in tune with your guys and your teammates rather than yourself. It can be it can be very easy to just focus on yourself and wanting to succeed. Everybody wants to succeed, but if you can kind of step aside when you're not on the mound and see everybody else and make sure they're all doing good, I think that that helps you tremendously.”

Tiedemann has checked several major boxes on his rehabilitation journey in the last few weeks, from retaking the mound in a minor league game to making it back to Triple-A. But the biggest box to check remains ahead of him.

“I think the biggest box is just staying healthy, staying out there, finishing off the year strong, getting three outs every time they want me to go out there, taking it step by step,” he said. “I'm helping my team, helping my teammates. For me, it's just finishing the year strong. You know, you missed all season, and you wanted to play all year—it didn't happen. So now, what can you control? It's just going out there every day and making sure your teammates are right, making sure your mind is right, and making sure your body's right, and just trying to stay there.”