Tyler Beede

Beede’s changeup underperformed to a -5.3 pVAL in 2019, due partly to a 22% spike in Z-Contact rate and an inflated .354 BABIP against his secondary offering. The gulf between Beede’s actual stats (.289 BAA, .366 wOBA) and his expected stats (.209 xBA, .281 xwOBA) shows room for growth.

Beede’s curveball showcased some strong potential in 2019, buoyed by a 65.2% ground-ball rate, 16.3% swinging-strike rate, and 51.7% strikeout rate. The breaking ball held opponents to a subpar .151/.224/.226 slash line, and should keep being a key part of Beede’s arsenal moving forward.

Despite some worrying command numbers (a 44.4% walk rate) in a limited window of 2018 action, Beede improved at finding the strike zone with his fastball last season, anchored by a steady 57.3% zone rate and shrinking his walk rate to 9.4%. Beede’s heater paid for a 12.1% jump in fly-ball rate during the juiced-ball season, as batters took his primary offering yard 16 times.

While not his favorite put-away pitch (that would be the curve), Beede’s slider was a decent, if unspectacular, early-count offering in 2019. Used in total about 11.5% of the time and about twice as often to RHB as LHB, it shows average depth for a slider and below average gloveside action. Overall it proved a good source of whiffs (17%) and held opponents to a decent .338 wOBA.

Beede’s fastball is one of his highest rated pitches according to scouts, and it comes in consistently around 93. The problem with the pitch, like much of Beede’s arsenal, is his command. Though he only threw the pitch 51 times at the big league level, he issued four walks. Only time will tell if that’s the jitters or if his command is a serious concern.

The changeup is Beede’s bread and butter. It comes in with a 10+ degree velocity drop from the four-seamer and drops off nicely. He throws it almost as often as his fastball, and allowed only a .143 BAA with a .219 wOBA in 2018. He also managed to get swings out of the zone 43% of the time. If he finds command of his fastball, look out.

The two-seamer fooled very few hitters during Beede’s 2018 cup of coffee. There’s nice movement to it, but hitters had no trouble picking up on it to the tune of a .571 BAA.

Beede’s curveball has shown promise and is reportedly one of his project pitches that he hopes to improve. Batters had difficulty getting the curve up in the air.

Somewhere between a slider and a cutter, this pitch is an afterthought for Beede’s repertoire. It doesn’t vary in speed or movement quite enough from his four-seamer to be highly effective. We’ll see if he adjusts it at all moving forward.