Former first-rounder (twice) coming off Tommy John worth a gamble

On Friday, Derek Shelton was asked about Tyler Beede, the right-handed reliever the Pirates claimed Thursday afternoon.

Shelton, the Pirates manager, isn’t one to disclose the thinking behind organizational decisions in extreme detail, but in this case, his answer was simple.

“We liked the stuff. We’re talking about a guy that has thrown the ball hard in the past,” Shelton said. “We think, our group thinks, that there’s some ways forward, and we’re going to work on them and see how they play out.”

With the Pirates waiver claims during the past few seasons, sometimes it is that simple. The organization is searching for players who can play on a winning team. Sometimes that means developing prospects and calling them up when the team feels it’s right. Other times, it means remaining diligent on the waiver wire, searching for players who have one or two positive skills to help them blossom into a true contributor.

In Beede, the velocity is intriguing. Since returning from Tommy John surgery in July 2021 with the San Francisco Giants, his fourseam fastball has been clocked at over 95 mph.

Plus, he’s one of just 20 players to be drafted in the first round twice. He was first taken with the 21st overall pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2011, but opted to head to Vanderbilt for college instead. After three years with the Commodores, Beede was selected by the Giants with the 14th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, finally moving to professional ball.

As Shelton said, the Pirates see that pedigree, view his relative struggles in the majors as untapped potential and now have pounced at the opportunity to help Beede realize that potential in Pittsburgh.

“I think it’s just a matter of understanding what I’ve done well in the past, maybe where going through Tommy John and that recovery process has led me a little bit astray from those things and just getting back to it,” Beede said Saturday.

“Honestly, I’m thankful that I feel like I’m pretty close to how I was throwing before Tommy John. It’s just a matter of ironing a couple things out, which obviously we’ll do over the course of the next few weeks. They’ve reminded me of things that I do well, getting me back to that.”

It isn’t difficult to find the form to which Beede is trying to return. After the Giants drafted him, he put together a solid 2015 campaign, with a 3.97 ERA over 124⅔ innings at high Class A and Class AA. Then he burst onto the scene further, with a 2.81 ERA in 147⅓ innings. A starter at the time, Beede was ranked as a top-100 prospect in MLB, and the second-best Giants prospect by MLB Pipeline before the 2017 season.

Obviously, though, potential only gets a player so far, and Beede was on waivers for a reason. After returning from Tommy John surgery, Beede allowed three earned runs in his one relief appearance with the Giants in 2021. He was sent down to Class AAA after that and had a 6.66 ERA in 16 starts there. He struck out 50 batters in that time and walked a shocking 45 of them, an average of 8.3 walks per nine innings.

In 2022, his performance has been closer to where Beede wants to be, yet the Giants were willing to risk losing him on waivers. Shelton said he’ll remain in the bullpen and could slide into one of the Pirates’ hybrid roles.

Whatever the role, Beede hopes to prove that a new setting can help him achieve the type of results he’s always wanted for himself in the big leagues.

“Ithink a change of scenery is always good and beneficial for guys,” Beede said. “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but I’ve seen this place to be already such a great spot for me. Familiar faces from top to bottom, really, from guys in the front office to guys sitting next to me in the bullpen. It’s just an opportunity for me to get a breath of fresh air and get a new opportunity with a changeof scenery.”