Out In Front: The Giants and Tyler Beede Are A Perfect Match

In this edition of Out In Front, I got a chance to talk with a "source in the industry" about the San Francisco Giants right-handed pitching prospect Tyler Beede, the number 1 prospect in my Top 10+10 Prospects list and as well as other respectable prospect lists. We talked about Beede's baseball life, from being drafted in the 2011 MLB Draft by the Blue Jays and passing it up, to pitching in the powerhouse Vanderbilt University, to being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 MLB Draft, performance this season and more that you might have never heard before.

Notes before reading my full blog post: My source requests not to be mentioned his name in this blog post to protect my source's privacy and I respect his decision to keep his identity as a secret. I will not also talk about my source in my article and in my comments and instead, I'll focus more on Tyler Beede. I know that I am not a journalist or a reporter to present to you a top-quality article presentation-wise (I'm a chemical engineering student) but I assure you that the information that you'll see here is legitimate and I did my best to deliver the information to the readers of my blog. I edited some of the things the source told me to provide better clarity and is enclosed in a parentheses.

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United States' Tyler Beede throws during the fourth inning of the All-Star Futures baseball game against Team World, Sunday, July 12, 2015, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Retreived from mediacomtoday.com

Tyler Beede created a lot of buzz in 2011 when the right-handed pitcher was considered as the number 1 prospect in the Northeast region, where he pitched for Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts and posted crazy good numbers, 14-1 win-loss record with a 0.80 ERA while striking out 189 in 96 1/3 innings over two seasons, according to MLB.com. His repertiore is a fastball that reaches mid-90s, a curveball and a changeup to give him a three potential-plus pitches to work with. In this MLB.com scouting report of him, it even noted that "he looks more of a college arm than a high school one."

Even though Tyler was drafted by the Blue Jays, the San Francisco Giants showed deep interest in Beede at that time, according to my source. My source said that "the Giants followed Tyler very close in HS and saw him for 3 years in high school on national summer circuit." My source added that "(the Giants scouting director) was at many high school games and area codes, east code pro events, (sophomore and junior summer showcases where Beede pitched)." There's a lot of concerns about pitchers being overworked in HS and ended up dealing with Tommy John surgeries but my source told me that there's nothing to worry because "when Tyler was young and (still in) high school, (the coaches kept in track) of his pitch counts (to preserve his arm in the long run)."

Beede ultimately passed up on playing for the Blue Jays and committed to his scholarship with Vanderbilt University. Beede said this in an interview of him from an article of WEEI.com.

“No regrets at all,” Beede told WEEI.com (about turning down the Blue Jays). “It was probably the best three years of my life. It was a blessing to go through some adversity in college to understand what I needed to do to get better. And it’s helped me for this level of baseball, and on, for so many reasons. Without that opportunity, I don’t think I’d be where I’m at right now, for sure. It was a great opportunity. I had a lot of fun and had the opportunity of winning the national championship.”

In Vanderbilt, Beede's performance earned mixed results. One of the problems that a lot of people talked about is the amount of walks. He allowed 148 walks in 286 innings pitched in three years playing with the Commodores and posted a 1.93 K/BB ratio. My source told me that Tyler turned down the Blue Jays and committed to his scholarship and that "helped him understand the business side of the game. Tyler felt (his time in Vanderbilt and in SEC) would help him prepare for pro ball quicker." He added that "college was more about learning structure and routine" and Giants fans don't have to worry about pitch counts because "Vanderbilt always kept him at 100 or lower (pitches in his outings)." He said that in his opinion, Tyler's decision is a good move. "Its never about the destination, its always about the journey. He learned a great deal at Vandy and matured mentally and physically," he gladly said.

The Giants isn't concerned with his not so impressive numbers and believed in his potential as a pitcher and drafted him in the 2014 MLB Draft and they did a lot of things for Beede's development like fixing his mechanics and adding a sinker and a cutter that resulted to a great numbers this season. A 4-5 win-loss record but with a 2.91 ERA while striking out 60 and most especially, he allowed just 24 walks in 89 2/3 innings so far. Beede's love for the field also produced a really good GO/AO ratio of 2.21.

My source told me a lot about the time Beede spent in Vandy and what the Giants did for him in the offseason. "His work in Vandy got him away from pitching, sacrificing his command and his advanced feel for pitching. They want Beede to throw hard and (the coaches) changed his tempo and delivery. He had two pitching coaches, Derek Johnson for one year and then Scott Brown for two. Vandy wanted tyler to increase (the) intensity (of his mechanics)," he said. He also said that "it was more of a tempo that didn't fit his delivery (than it was a mental thing). (Beede is) trying to rush and accelerate caused him to rotate thru delivery rather than stay through his line, staying back over rubber and use mound as energy generator. The rushed tempo caused him to disengage from pitching rubber too early." He showed me pictures to explain his point. Take a look at the pictures of him from Vandy.

Now take a look at this picture of Beede this year pitching for San Jose Giants.

You can see that then Tyler's back foot is off the ground while he's still in Vandy, his body is right in front of the plate while in SJ, his throwing arm is in a "lay down position while his back foot in off (the) rubber", my source said. "(The Giants) knew his ability and felt that allowing him to go back to his mind set in high school and (simplifying his delivery) would (allow Beede to) get (positive) results (as he trusts throwing) his pitches in the zone. Tyler knows how to throw 93-97 MPH, what he needed was to relax his mind, trust his pitches (especially the pitches that the Giants) taught him, the sinker and cutter. Now, he is back to pitching and being a craftsman."

Apart from cleaning up his mechanics and implementation of the sinker/cutter, my source also said that "in high school, Tyler grew an inch and gained 20 pounds in college, the Giants actually had him lose weight (in the offseason and now listed at 6'4", 200 lbs). His body feels great. He is younger than people realize." When I asked him about Beede's projection in his body, he said that "he has great strength coaches, so I have no doubt he will add strength, and maybe size (to help him handle a lot of innings)."

I also got a chance to talk to him about the Young Beedah's performance in the Futures Game held in Cincinnati. "I really enjoyed watching him. If you look at 0-2 pitch to first hitter he faced, you can see he is very confident in new pitches (the cutter). (Kyle) Schwarber caught him with Team USA and thought he looked great with a lot of movement," he said.

Perfect 0-2 pitch. Right on the black.

It's a cutter down and on the black that I thought it is a strike and a perfect pitcher's pitch. He said "indeed, you can see it and you can tell by (Tyler's) reaction (but) its a vision of his new mind set, throwing strikes and attacking (the zone)." He also said about the third hitter that Beede faced which is Yankees prospect Gary Sanchez, he threw a 1st pitch (sinker) that ran 12 (towards the hitter)." Just look at how the pitch starts at the heart of the plate and ends up down and in outside the strike zone. 

That's some crazy movement that Beede can generate to his pitches.

The next pitch is a good pitch down. Sanchez, possibly already knowing that Beede loves to throw his cutter down in the zone, is hunting the pitch down and even though it's a pretty good pitch from Beede, Sanchez hit it in the gap for a double. My source said that "look at all swings that the hitters had swung against him, Sanchez was clearly looking away."

Good pitch, just good hitting approach from Sanchez.

My source then addressed the concerns regarding Tyler's low strikeout numbers throughout the season from the Giants fans to the national prospect writers and others. "Most bloggers do not understand the Giants just taught him these new grips in the Spring. They will bring back his four-seamer over time. My point is, while everyone is concerned with strikeout rate, Giants are asking him to throw all of his new pitches in the zone induce more swings, in time more swings will equal to more swing and misses. (It's) going to be fun to watch him (throw) 92-96 (MPH) and then 87-90 (MPH) cutter and sinker. The refinement of the changeup and his curveball is next pitch he is being asked to work on (by the Giants staff). Why worry about (Beede's) velocity at this stage (of his) development? Would you want to have him 93-98 with no command or additional secondary other than changeup? That will make him as a 2 pitch guy. Now, he has 4 plus-potential pitches to go with a 93-97 (MPH) 4-seam fastball. All of the pieces are in place, his mind is now free of doubt and his delivery more repeatable with that changeup and sinker, he will throw a ton of ground balls and he will always be a 6-10 strikeout-a-game type pitcher," he explained. He then challenge the people to "count the number of "soft swings" Beede induced in the Futures Game" to prove his stand even further.

I asked him about Tyler's best game this year where he went 7 innings and punched out 11 batters on May 30 because I always believe that the strikeout stuff that he flashed when he's still pitching in Vanderbilt is still around and he just wants to get quick outs and weak contact. He said to he that "in that game, they (the Giants coaches) let him call his game and allowed him to mix his 4 seam back in, he punched out several with 4 seam at 94-95 (MPH)." He also addressed the national writers that often belittle the Giants' farm system as one of the worst farm systems in baseball over the past few years and said that "while (Matt) Duffy, (Joe) Panik, and Tyler (Beede) may not excite the masses or fans nationally, they are perfect fits for The Giants way and style." 

We were now close to ending our great conversation about Beede and there's just some final topics that I want to know about. I asked him if Tyler is ready for the bright lights of the Big Leagues and he feels that "Tyler will be a great addition to bullpen this fall or spot starter. He is mentally and physically ready for Big Leagues. Tyler has less than 100 innings as a pro, another 4-5 starts and he will be ready to rock (the Majors)." "I think SF Giants fans will be VERY happy once Tyler gets to Big Leagues, he is a good hitter and excellent fielder (aside from being a dominant pitcher)," he added. I think that all caps on very is something we should take seriously, like all of the things that my source said.

Beede is not yet a finished product in my eyes. I asked if what will be the things that Tyler will work on improving in the future. He said that Tyler will work on "his curveball and its 12-6 rotation and handling the running game." He believes that Beede's curveball that he flashed in the Futures Game that I commented on my previous blog post that lacks true sharp break is just a matter of "lack of reps and they are bringing it back in the 2nd half." About the running game, I got worried because if Beede will make his mechanics quicker to home, he'll experience the same command issues that he experienced in Vanderbilt. He makes sure that there's nothing to worry about because "(the Giants coaches) will just have him go knee to knee instead of gather (in the stretch position) and it's just a simple fix so no worries there. I am just excited to see the 2nd half." I am just excited as well to see Beede pitch.

I am so excited to see Beede pitch in the 2nd half that I thought that he's going to pitch yesterday just like Mella did. But the source said that he's going to pitch next week. I see that they're giving Tyler a lot of rest. A well-deserved grace period.
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That's the end of the conversation and if my source will ever read this, I thank you once again from the bottom for the opportunity to talk to you and it's been a blast. That ends this edition of Out In Front. I hope that you enjoyed reading this article about Tyler Beede. There's just one thing that he said that really left a mark for me and quite possibly the summary of all of the things that he said and I wrote. 

"The Giants are the perfect match for Tyler Beede." I truly agree.