College teammates reunited in DodgersGiants rivalry
Buehler, Beede find themselves in opposite dugouts
LOS ANGELES » Five years ago, pitchers Tyler Beede and Walker Buehler teamed up to lead the Vanderbilt Commodores to the only College World Series title in the program’s storied history.
For the first time since hoisting a trophy together, Beede and Buehler are back on the same diamond. This time they’re in opposite dugouts.
“To look across and see somebody you played with and know you’re competing against them at the highest level, this is where we both ultimately wanted to be,” Beede said. “And to pitch in this environment and do it against each other is really cool.”
Beede, the Giants’ firstround draft pick in 2014, earned his first career win on Monday night with six innings of one-run ball at Dodger Stadium. Buehler, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first-round selection in 2015, already owns 16 career wins including three in three starts against the Giants.
Despite undergoing Tommy John surgery before he ever threw a professional pitch, Buehler beat Beede to the big leagues thanks to an advanced repertoire of pitches and an accelerated run through the Dodgers farm system. Beede’s journey took nearly twice as long and included more than three times as many minor league starts, but the Giants are eager to give him an extended look in their rotation this summer.
“I’m happy for Tyler that he’s up and now he’s got to figure it out a little bit,” Buehler said. “I think everyone, especially guys that know how talented Tyler is, we’re hoping the best for him. Just not against us.”
Beede and Buehler haven’t faced off head-tohead yet, but Beede said the thought of doing so crossed his mind shortly after his Monday start against Dodgers righty Kenta Maeda. The right-handers are the only two members of the 2014 Vanderbilt title team currently involved in the rivalry, but they’re not the only former Commodores to appear at Dodger Stadium this week.
Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski launched a solo home run in the club’s 9-2 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday and like Beede, the past two weeks have offered him an introduction to the rivalry. Buehler only overlapped with Yastrzemski for one season at Vanderbilt, but that was a 2013 season in which the Commodores set an SEC record with 26 wins in conference play.
“I think Yaz has been a really good baseball player for a long time,” Buehler said. “He was super wellrespected and liked in our locker room, I know he turned down some money to come back.”
Yastrzemski was selected in the 30th round of the 2012 draft but passed up a reported bonus of $300,000 to return for his senior season at Vanderbilt.
“Right now I’d say no because of how everything worked out, but at the time it was really tough,” Yastrzemski said. “I had a really good opportunity in front of me, I was drafted by the Mariners and it looked like a good opportunity. But I really wanted to graduate and that held a special place in my heart.”
Yastrzemski went on to earn First-Team All- SEC honors, but the Commodores’ road to the College World Series came to an abrupt end with a Super Regional loss to Louisville. Beede was on the mound for the final game of the year, a stunning 2-1 defeat.
“We thought that team was the best we were ever going to have at Vandy,” Beede said. “Just because of the amount of seniors we had, Yaz was on that team, and we went 26-3 in the SEC. We were looking at that season like man, that’s the best we’ll ever do.”
Yastrzemski was selected in the 14th round of the 2013 draft by the Orioles, but Beede and Buehler returned and were joined in the starting weekend rotation by White Sox pitcher Carson Fulmer. The trio of pitchers all became first-round draft picks, but the Commodores regressed during the 2014 regular season and went 1713 in SEC play.
When the postseason began, the Commodores played the best ball in program history.
“We got beat by Louisville and it was like wait, what?” Buehler said. “We were shell-shocked. But to come back in ’14 and repeat that success, we had a little bit more up and down, but we caught fire at the right time and were able to finish it off.”
The Commodores stormed their way to a College World Series title, in part due to the play of a freshman outfielder tasked with replacing Yastrzemski’s production.
It was freshman AllAmerican and former Giants prospect Bryan Reynolds.
“He’s got that heartbeat of a guy who’s played like he’s played 10 years in baseball,” Beede said of Reynolds. “He’s calm, cool, collected more than anybody else. He doesn’t get in awe of any situation. It doesn’t matter who he’s facing, he’s going to have the same approach.”
If not for one of the most ill-advised Giants’ trades of the last two decades, Reynolds would be starring in the outfield this week against the Dodgers. Instead, after being sent to Pittsburgh in the deal that brought Andrew McCutchen to San Francisco, Reynolds has emerged as one of the top Rookie of the Year candidates with the Pirates.
“I’m honestly not very surprised,” said Buehler, when asked about Reynolds’ success. “He’s just been a guy that always plays with a really good heartbeat. He’s always kind of been that gamer that everything looks like he knows what he’s doing all the time. ”