Vogt up, Beede arriving
Tyler Beede is about to get another chance to prove that it’s never too late for a firstround draft pick to make his name in the majors. Beede will be promoted from Triple-A Sacramento to start Friday night’s road-trip opener in Cincinnati in place of injured Derek Holland.
Manager Bruce Bochy made the announcement Wednesday while discussing two other roster moves. The Giants selected the contract of catcher Stephen Vogt from Sacramento and demoted Ty Blach, as expected, after his long-relief outing Tuesday night.
For the first time this season, the Giants went with 12 pitchers and a five-man bench Wednesday night, including three catchers, although Vogt also can play first base and even left field in a pinch.
This roster setup might not last long. The Giants must make another roster move before they can add Beede to the 25-man roster Friday.
Beede, still just 25, made his big-league debut last year and allowed seven earned runs in 72⁄3 innings over two starts. The 2014 first-rounder simplified his repertoire and had an impressive spring training. Then, in five starts for Sacramento, he had a 1.99 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 22 innings.
“Part of the development for a young player is learning how to pitch up here, harnessing your stuff and commanding the ball,” Bochy said. “You can see how he improved this spring and carried it into Sacramento. We’re excited about him joining the rotation.”
Vogt returns to the majors nearly a year after undergoing surgery as a member of the Brewers to repair the labrum and capsule in his throwing shoulder. He continued his rehab after signing a minorleague deal with the Giants.
The 34-year-old, who spent parts of five seasons (2013-17) with the A’s, will provide a left-handed bat off the bench and another catching option alongside Buster Posey and Erik Kratz. Prospect suspended: To clear a 40-man spot for Vogt, the Giants moved pitching prospect Logan Webb to the restricted list after he was suspended 80 games for using a performance-enhancing drug.
Webb, a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft who had been pitching at Double-A Richmond, Va., tested positive for an anabolic-androgenic steroid, a violation of baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
The 22-year-old from Rocklin (Placer County) had posted a 2.00 ERA with 31 strikeouts and seven walks in 27 innings.
In a statement released by the Giants, Webb insisted he was not aware of how the drug, called dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, got into his system and did not take it knowingly, saying, “For the past month and a half, I have tried endlessly to find the answer to why the M4 metabolite was found in my urine sample.”