San Francisco Giants: Players in Sacramento to Keep an Eye on in 2017
Over the years the Giants have emphasized drafting pitching, and it has become one of their strong suits. The Giants drafted Beede, a 6-foot-3 right-hander, 14th overall out of Vanderbilt in the 2014 draft, and he has quickly ascended through the minor leagues.
After the 2014 draft, Beede reported to the Giants Arizona Fall League where he went 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four starts. He held his opponents to a .242 batting average and struck out 11 batters in 8.2 innings pitched.
Beede then finished the year in short season Salem-Keizer — pitching in two games. During his time in Salem-Keizer, Beede had a 2.70 ERA in 6.2 innings pitched and 7 strikeouts. He had a WHIP of 1.65 and opponents hit .308 off him, albeit it was only a small sample size.
Beede’s success in 2014 led to him beginning the 2015 season in Advanced Class-A San Jose.
He made 9 starts, going 2-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 52.1 innings. Opponents hit .254 off of him and had a WHIP of 1.15, due in large part to only walking 9 batters.
Beede was rewarded for his success by being promoted to Double-A Richmond. However, Beede would struggle mightily for Richmond, going 3-8 with a 5.23 ERA in 13 starts.
He struggled with his command as a member of the Flying Squirrels, walking 35 batters in 72.1 innings, and his strikeout numbers dropped a bit — he only had 49.
Despite these struggles, he limited his opponents to a .234 batting average, the lowest of his career.
Then 2016 was a bounce back year for Beede. Once again playing in Double-A Richmond, he went 8-7 with a 2.81 ERA in 24 starts. He pitched a career high 147.1 innings and increased his K/9 rate from 6.2 in 2015 to 8.2.
There is no question that Beede has been everything as advertised and more. As a non-roster invitee this spring, Beede has shined — going 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched.
He is currently the San Francisco Giants number one ranked prospect and the 88th ranked prospect in the MLB, according to MLB.com.
He will begin the 2017 season in Triple-A and has a legitimate shot at making the major league roster at some point this season.
Whether it be during September call-ups, an injury, or struggles out of the fifth spot in the rotation, Beede is not too far away from making the major league roster.
I believe it will be more beneficial to Beede the longer he stays in Triple-A so he can continue to develop, but in baseball, anything can happen.