Thursday, December 24, 2015

DrB's 2016 Giants Top 50 Prospects: #2 Tyler Beede

Tyler Beede, RHP.  DOB:  5/23/1993.  6'4", 200 lbs.

High A:  2-2, 2.24, 52.1 IP, 6.36 K/9, 1.55 BB/9, GO/AO= 2.44.
AA:        3-8, 5.23, 72.1 IP, 6.10 K/9, 4.35 BB/9, GO/AO= 1.87.

Beede was the Giants first round draft pick in 2014, #14 overall.  2015 was his first full pro season.  Not only was High A a fairly aggressive placement, but the Giants and Beede reworked his entire pitching arsenal and his approach to hitters.  In college, he used the classic 3 pitch mix of 4-seam FB, curveball and changeup and was a big K pitcher.  For the first 2 months of the season, he reportedly threw exclusively two seam FB's and cutters.  Despite the new and limited repertoire, he dominated the California League combining an elite GB rate and BB/9.  I saw his last game for San Jose on 5/30.  In that game, he appeared to throw at least 5 pitches, 4-seam, 2-seam, cutter, curve and change.  The results were spectacular as he went 7 full innings, striking out 11 against just 1 BB in 7 IP.

He was promoted to AA Richmond which is generally a more favorable pitching environment than the California League.  He proceeded to pitch 7 more shutout innings in his first AA start and had a QS his second game.  He continued to get groundballs while striking out 10 batters in 13 IP over his first 2 starts.  He did give up 5 BB's in those two games.  The rest of the season was hot and cold, but he did turn in 7 QS out of 13 after his promotion and allowed 2 runs in 5 IP in his last start.

My theory has always been that he wore down physically in his first experience with the grind of pro baseball.  I had noticed a subtle but definite slippage in his command in the last 2 inning of that start in San Bernardino.  He also tended to issue his walks later in games.  Some of the scouting reports I've read this offseason confirm that he did wear down in Richmond and even lost weight.

I'll guess we see him back in Richmond to start the 2016 season. I expect he will be strong and back in command.  He'll have had an offseason to process the changes to his pitching approach and a chance to physically rejuvenate.  I am not going to worry about his second half until/unless we start seeing BB/9's above 4 again, although stamina is an important part of being an MLB SP.  I think he will build stamina with age and pro experience.

As for ETA, we could see him as early as September 2016, but more likely sometime mid-season 2017.

6 comments:

  1. I'd be really happy with a September call up so he's ready to take Peavy's spot (the way they brought up Timmy and MadBum, IIRC)

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  2. Lincecum never had a September callup. He came up May 6th of 2007 and was there to stay. Madbum had a September callup in 2009 but did not become part of the permanent rotation until June 26th of 2010 to avoid super two status most likely. My point is that it is not the Giants MO to start a rookie at the beginning of the season unless of injury. Sorry to all Blackburn fans.

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  3. It's a good theory in that it's something that happens to young baseball players who aren't used to the grind of professional baseball and he followed a more-or-less classic pattern of fading in games and fading during the tail-end of the season.

    Heck, Duffy kind of did the same for the Giants this year. The last month or so he was looking pretty tuckered out since he, basically, had no time off once McGehee was benched (and McGehee had 30 starts...). And, from what I read, he lost the weight he'd put on before the season started and was down to around 170lbs by the end of September. Which meant his cat was almost as heavy as him... ;)

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  4. The org would strike gold if they can develop Beede into a Frontline starter. Teams have to pay a whole lot to acquire a quality pitcher in the free agent and trade markets.

    LG

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  5. Merry Christmas to you and your family as well as your Giants extended family.

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  6. Tyler Beede's Placement on Doc's Top 50:

    2015: 1st
    2016: 2nd

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