Tyler Beede loved his time in San Francisco. The Giants’ 2014 first-round pick appreciated the relationships he built, the consistent push to win and also everything the organization did to help him.
A 29-year-old right-hander who returned from Tommy John surgery last July and remains focused on fulfilling his considerable potential, Beede also knew it was time for a change whenever the Giants designated him for assignment on May 5.
“I think I needed it,” Beede said. “I loved the environment that was taking place in San Francisco, but I felt like the writing was on the wall in a sense. Sometimes when you feel that, it feels heavy.”
Six weeks into his Pirates tenure, Beede feels considerably lighter in Pittsburgh, expanding his pitch mix and finding some comfortability in a hybrid role. In eight games (14 innings) with the Pirates thus far, Beede has pitched to a 2.57 ERA, with a .192 batting average against and 1.14 WHIP. All three would be career-best numbers if extrapolated out over a full season.
The turnaround has happened for a couple reasons, Beede explained. Most obvious has been Beede bringing back his slider after not throwing the pitch since 2019, when he made 22 starts for the Giants and had a 5.08 ERA but did strike out 113 in 117 innings.
Beede threw his slider 11.5% of the time that year, but it also yielded a .458 slugging percentage. After dusting it off with the Pirates, Beede’s slider — with roughly the same usage at 11.9% this season — has yielded a much better slugging percentage (.296) with the Pirates.
Although Baseball Savant has not yet credited Beede with throwing any sinkers, he said he’s also brought that pitch out of retirement. Beede last threw his sinker with any regularity in 2018, when he used it 18.7% of the time.
“They’ve been really effective for me getting more confidence attacking the zone,” said Beede, who has also benefitted from the opportunity available to him in Pittsburgh.
Re-integrating the slider and sinker has even allowed Beede to get creative with his curveball usage. In the past, he would throw it knowing he needed to land it for a strike. Now, Beede can take risk and try to get swing-and-miss, confident he can get back in the zone with a slider.
Less quantifiable for Beede has been the fit found in Pittsburgh, the intangible stuff and how he feels like he gets along with the coaching staff. Not like anything was bad in San Francisco. Far from it. Again, he loved every minute of his time there.
But Beede has appreciated the feedback the Pirates have given him on his stuff — what it’s doing, how his mechanics may cause something to deviate, the results produced by throwing certain pitches in certain counts.
The communication has been open, much like it was with the Giants, and Beede’s inherent growth after coming back from Tommy John surgery has helped spur development.
“It is a testament to the environment they’ve cultivated from a pitching side," Beede said of the Pirates. "It's group of guys that really does hype one another up and encourages one another. It's a place where there’s development happening. They push you to work on things that you need to work on, then we have opportunities to go out there and pitch.”
Those opportunities for Beede will only grow if he continues to pitch this way.
Beede has delivered a total of 9 1/3 scoreless innings over his last four outings and has worked multiple innings nine times. Beede’s changeup has also been a weapon for him, the pitch netting a .148 batting average against and .296 slugging percentage. It's one of three pitches for Beede with a whiff percentage of 26.3 or greater.
Bottom line, Beede has found some comfortability in a new place and seems to be discovering a version of himself that he couldn’t seem to find in San Francisco.
“I was bummed to leave that group of guys that I had grown really close to and build relationship with, but I was also excited to start somewhere new,” Beede said. “It’s my first time in a new organization, and I’m really thankful I ended up in a place like this.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: June 19, 2022, 4:02 p.m.
