Why Tyler Beede is the X-Factor for the SF Giants in 2022

Tyler Beede is considered an enigma for various reasons ever since he was drafted by the Giants in the first round (14th overall) in 2014 from Vanderbilt. The way the Giants coaches handled him as a prospect was a wild one. Coming out of college, he had three potential plus pitches with his four-seamer that reached 97 MPH. a curveball that had impressive depth, and a changeup that bad bat-missing fade but with questionable control of his three outstanding pitches.

Why Tyler Beede is the X-Factor for the SF Giants in 2022

Over the years, the Giants dabbled with his pitching repertoire and his mechanics. In not a particular order, the coaches made him slow down the tempo of his delivery, hastened his delivery, employed a full windup with his glove going over his head, had a conventional windup, had him add a low-90s sinker and cutter to his repertoire, had him scrap his sinker and moved him back to his conventional four-seam fastball, scrap his cutter and had him use a slider, and had varying emphasis with his curveball and changeup. All of those tinkerings led to mixed results but what was impressive was that he absorbed the instructions that were given to him and implemented them in his starts. However, it never seemed like he developed a consistent feel to his offerings because of the plethora of changes that he did year after year.

Nonetheless, he made his big league debut in 2019, and while he flashed his stuff, particularly his off-speed pitches, he was inconsistent with a 5.08 ERA and below-average 82 ERA+. He was seemingly ready to break out in 2020 but his season was cut short even before it began after undergoing Tommy John surgery. It was seemingly the best time to go under the knife as the pandemic threw a wrench to the season. Beede came back in 2021 and pitched in Triple-A Sacramento and while the stuff was back, the control was definitely not as he allowed 45 walks in just 48.1 innings with 50 strikeouts and an unlucky 6.66 ERA.