Surgery behind him, Beede back

When Tyler Beede was working his way back from Tommy John surgery, his catch partner was his dad, Walter, who liked to give his son a hard time.

“The whole time he was like, ‘Man, are you going to throw over 70?’ ” Beede joked Wednesday.

The elder Beede will get a chance to see for himself as soon as Friday, when he’ll be in town for the Giants’ game against the Nationals. If Beede didn’t work in relief Wednesday evening, he was likely to either start against Washington or come in behind Logan Webb.

In fact, Beede’s velocity was there right away when he began throwing bullpen sessions this spring. It has been his command that has been off; he walked 32 in 352⁄3 innings during his rehab assignment with TripleA Sacramento.

“Coming back from Tommy John or guys who didn’t pitch during the COVID season, it takes time to shake the rust off,” Beede said. “A good amount of it is just trusting myself to get the feel back from Tommy John. It’s in there.

“I’m certainly not happy with those results, but it’s just part of the process of coming back. I’m certainly better than those numbers show, and I’m confident in my abilities to throw strikes and to get guys out and be efficient, so I’m excited to put that on display more than I have.”

Beede is so excited, in fact, that he said he doesn’t care what role the Giants give him after missing a season and a half.

“I pitched out of the bullpen in 2018 and I loved it,” he said. “I love the bullpen life, being down there with the guys. And I love the starter life, too.

“I get to play baseball every day, and whether it’s in the bullpen or being a starter, being on the bench cheering on my teammates, it’s just a great day being at the yard.”

One thing Beede won’t have to do that he did in Sacramento: serve as batboy.

“Scott Kazmir and I were down there running down balls,” he said. “Some days, we just treated that as our cardio.”

Webb (shoulder) is also all systems go, and he even took batting practice Wednesday. If both Webb and Beede work in Friday’s game, they’d likely divide up six innings, or perhaps seven if they’re particularly efficient.

Briefly: Catcher Buster Posey (thumb contusion) wasn’t expected to be available off the bench at least through Thursday’s off day. Manager Gabe Kapler said Posey still has soreness “and that is giving me some trepidation about putting him in the lineup and also makes it more difficult to determine how available he’s going to be to pinch hit.” ... An MRI exam showed that lefty Sammy Long has lower back inflammation . ... Outfielder Mike Tauchman (knee) took batting practice and said he’s doing well.