He did return to the field … but only briefly.
Next up on our 2021 San Francisco Giants player reviews: right-handed pitcher Tyler Beede.
2021 review
1 game, 1 inning, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, 27.00 ERA, 2.17 FIP, 0.0 fWAR, -0.1 rWAR
You can’t hold it against Tyler Beede for not having a great year, but you can still be a bit disappointed that things didn’t work out better.
The former first-round pick was having a brilliant Spring Training in 2020, looking like an entirely new pitcher, when he suffered a UCL injury that required Tommy John surgery. At the time you told yourself it was a bummer that we didn’t get to see if Beede could carry his Spring Training success into the regular season, while also recognizing the reality of the situation: it was highly unlikely that his shift in performance would be sustained.
But in the time since then, the Giants coaching staff has proven its brilliance with pitchers, turning Logan Webb from a prospect with similar numbers to Beede into a bonafide ace; turning Kevin Gausman from a career journeyman into a Cy Young candidate; and turning multiple veterans like Anthony DeSclafani into … well … better veterans. Now, looking back on that injury a year and a half later, there’s reason to think that maybe a corner had been turned.
Unfortunately, if such a turn had occurred, it wasn’t able to show up in 2021 as Beede made his way back to the mound following rehab. He struggled mightily with both command and control in AAA, and when the Giants surprisingly brought him up for a single game in mid-July, the struggles continued.
Back to AAA he went, where he was quickly placed on the season-ending 60-day Injured List.
We’re left with a lone inning of Beede’s to analyze (or in this case, not analyze), while wondering if we’ve seen the last of him, or if he might be able to recapture that March magic that he briefly held in the final days of the Before Times.
Role in 2022
Your guess is as good as mine.
The coaching staff raved about Beede prior to his injury, so you could see the organization wanting to stick with him another year. If they think the 45 walks in 48.2 AAA innings are primarily due to rehabbing the injury, then it’s worth continuing to use a 40-man spot on Beede in hopes that he can contribute next year — maybe as a back-end starter, or maybe out of the bullpen.
But if they don’t think that, then it’s Bye Bye, Beede.