San Francisco Giants: Tyler Beede shows the value in trusting the process

A lot has been expected from Tyler Beede ever since he was selected in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He finally picked up his first MLB win on Monday.

San Francisco Giants rookie and former top prospect Tyler Beede has shown of late that his long road to becoming a starting rotation centerpiece may very well prove worth the wait.

From the moment the Giants chose Beede with the No. 14 pick in the 2014 draft, the Vanderbilt product has been envisioned as the team’s future ace. The Giants treated him as such by giving him a Lincecum-esque label of being untouchable in any trade deadline scenarios leading up to his MLB debut.

In 2016, Beede did a great job backing up the future ace claims by posting a 2.81 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 147 innings to earn a spot on the MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospect list at MLB.com. It seemed that Beede was ready for a final promotion to Triple-A before making his much-anticipated big league debut.

That’s when things took a turn for the worst.

Beede started and finished the 2017 season with the Triple-A Sacramento squad where his production took a step backward. He posted a 4.79 ERA and allowed 121 hits in just 109 innings. It seemed that Beede might not be ready to make the jump after all.

Fast-forward to the beginning of the 2018 season when the Giants starting rotation was hit hard by injuries. It seemed to make sense to speed up Beede’s process and finally see how he fares against MLB talent.

That experiment proved to be a quick one. He lasted just two starts, posting an 8.22 ERA with nine hits and eight walks allowed in 7.2 innings before he was returned to the minors. Those struggles followed him to Triple-A, and he finished the year with a 7.05 ERA and 82 hits allowed in 74 innings. It seemed that Beede’s confidence had been shot in the majors and some started to question if he would ever get back on track.

Then came 2019 spring training.

As a member of the San Francisco Giants 40-man roster, Beede joined MLB camp in Scottsdale and he looked like a new man. He revamped his repertoire of pitches in an effort to slow things down and it worked fantastically.

He had a great spring and the organization was waiting for the perfect time to give Beede another chance at the big leagues. Then that chance came on May 3rd, 2019, when he was asked to make a spot start against the Cincinnati Reds in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in baseball.

It did not go well.

Beede lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs in the process. A pair of mediocre relief appearances followed and Beede soon found himself back in the minors.

However, this time things were different. Instead of continuing the woes at the Triple-A level, Beede dominated the competition. In just his second start after being sent down, Beede pitched seven innings, giving up only one earned run while striking out eight. That was enough to earn him his second shot at big leagues.

This time, he made his case to stay, allowing five hits and one earned run in six innings against the Miami Marlins on May 30 to solidify a rotation spot.

Fast forward to Monday. It was a beautiful night at Chavez Ravine and Beede was about to make his first career start in one of the biggest rivalries in the history of sports. The Dodgers were entering the game as the best team in baseball with a record of 48-24, being led by MVP candidate Cody Bellinger, who was toting one of the hottest bats in baseball.

Beede started the game by going right at the Dodgers lefties, recording two outs on just five pitches, all strikes. He then walked Matt Beaty, bringing up Cody Bellinger for his first real challenge of the night. He struck him out on three straight pitches, landing a 12-6 curveball perfectly on the outside corner to catch the potential NL MVP looking.

He made his first mistake of the night in the second inning when his 3-1 fastball to Max Muncy caught too much of the plate and he homered to lead off the inning.

However, Beede then showed something he had not in his previous starts The ability to battle through adversity. He retired the next three hitters in order and was in complete control the rest of the night.

When the dust settled, his stat line told the story:

• 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 7 K

While the walks are still concerning, there was something different about this start, and Beede walked away with his first career win with the San Francisco Giants. He flashed his strikeout pitch, a plus curveball, multiple times, utilizing it to get five of his seven strikeouts.

He also seemingly brought a new level of confidence to the mound, something that could prove to be the final missing piece.

Monday night could stand as the day that Beede finally proved to he was worth the wait.

The San Francisco Giants have trusted the process and will continue to do so when it comes to Tyler Beede. He may not have taken the path that was expected, but he could still reach the same final destination before all is said and done.