Ex-Reds first-round pick reaches major milestone in knuckleball comeback

In the first round of the 2014 MLB draft, the Cincinnati Reds selected infielder Alex Blandino. He made his major league debut with the Reds in 2018 and played with the organization until 2021.

Blandino joined the San Francisco Giants organization in 2021 and the Seattle Mariners in 2022, but never made a major league appearance with either of those clubs. Blandino returned to the Reds organization on a minor-league deal in Nov. 2023, but in a new role.

The former infielder hopes to work his way back up to the big leagues as a knuckleball pitcher. Knuckleballers are hard to come by in this day and age — the only active knuckleball pitcher in the league is Matt Waldron of the San Diego Padres. But Blandino hopes to add to the list. He's throwing for Single-A Daytona, alongside players around 10 years his junior.

Blandino has pitched in the Arizona Complex League and Single-A this season with rough results. In his first outing with Daytona, he walked two batters and hit the next one to allow two runs without collecting an out.

Former Reds infielder Alex Blandino hopes to work his way back to the majors as a knuckleballer

But there's a small, tight-knit community of knuckleballers to help Blandino get to where he wants to be. Tom Candiotti and Steven Wright have spoken with Blandino in person and on the phone to help him fine-tune his work.

Bob Purkey was the most recent knuckleball pitcher in Reds franchise history. He played in Cincinnati from 1958-64 and his Reds tenure included three All-Star nominations and a third-place finish for the Cy Young award in 1962.

Blandino is trying to become the Reds' first knuckleballer in decades. It's unclear when he'll make it back to the bigs, but if it happens, we'll be seeing a completely different version of the former top pick.

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