Former Merced College, Turlock High ace makes his major league debut for Pirates
.JPG "Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Blake Cederlind throws during the sixth inning Tuesday against the Reds in Cincinnati. It was the major league debut for the former Merced College and Turlock High School star.")
Former Merced College and Turlock star Blake Cederlind became the second Merced County product to make his major league debut in less than a week.
The 24-year old right-hander pitched a perfect inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.
Cederlind, whose fastball was clocked as high as 99 mph on the radar gun, forced two groundouts and a flyout in the sixth inning.
Cederlind was promoted from the Pirates’ alternate site to the big league club Tuesday. Cederlind tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this season and began the year at the Pirates alternate site in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
“It’s fun,” said former Merced College coach Chris Pedretti, who coached Cederlind with the Blue Devils “You know what a big deal it is for a guy from Turlock and Merced to make it. You know all the hard work they put in to get there.”
Former Buhach Colony High ace Daulton Jefferies, who was drafted in the same year as Cederlind, made his MLB debut Saturday with the A’s.
Cederlind played for the Blue Devils in 2015 and 2016 after graduating from Turlock High School in 2014, where he played for Mark de la Motte.
Cederlind was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 22nd round in 2015, but opted to return to Merced College. The Pirates selected Cederlind in the fifth round in 2016 with the 165th overall pick.
Cederlind rose quickly through the organization, pitching in Class A Advanced, Double A and Triple A in 2019. The former Blue Devil compiled a 5-2 record with a 2.28 ERA. He struck out 55 batters in 59 1/3 innings over 41 appearances.
“He’s got a special arm. That’s for sure,” said Merced College coach Nate Devine, who was the pitching coach for the Blue Devils when Cederlind played. “Even with us he could throw 97 mph. It’ll be fun to watch him.”
Cederlind joins an impressive list of recent Merced College players who have made it to the major leagues, including Doug Fister, Curtis Partch, Brian Fuentes, Bradin Hagens and Dusty Ryan.
Cederlind joins a list of former Turlock players like Frank Duffy, Brad Lesley, Steve Soderstrom, Dan Reichert and Kevin Kramer, who is also in the Pirates organization.
Cederlind was hard to miss this spring training for the Pirates because of his performance and his long blond locks. In five spring outings, Cederlind had nine strikeouts, did not allow a hit and walked four.
Cederlind was sporting a much shorter haircut Tuesday.
“He looked a lot more like he did when he pitched for us,” Pedretti said.
Cinderlind made some adjustments to his arsenal, including adding a sinker that has led to his recent success.
“It shows how far technology has come,” Devine said. “They looked at his spin rate and they kind of made his arsenal around it. He went from struggling and being hit around to being dominant.”
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 7:04 PM.
