Why this is a critical spring for former SF Giants top pick Tyler Beede

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — For the first time in two years, Tyler Beede stepped on to the mound Saturday afternoon at Salt River Fields. The last time he started a spring training game, Beede was one of the Giants’ top prospects, on the cusp of cracking the rotation. Now, he’s fighting for a roster spot.

Once known for his tantalizing combination of power and precision, Beede has not been able to capture the same command of his pitches ever since he was shut down in his second spring start of 2020 with an elbow sprain that led to Tommy John surgery. Robbed of his past two seasons, Beede is now 28 years old and out of options. If he doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, the Giants will almost certainly have to cut ties with their first round pick from 2014.

After allowing two runs on five hits in two innings of work, with his fastball touching 96 mph, Beede displayed the newfound perspective he has after the long, at-times lonely process of working his way back from baseball’s most notorious operation.

“To be healthy and back on the mound and just competing, to have a shot at making the team, I’m very, very grateful for that,” Beede said after his outing to start an 8-5 win over the Rockies, the Giants’ first win of Cactus League play. “I’m really happy with just the way I felt, the way I stayed in the moment and continued to attack the zone.”

That, however, doesn’t alter his reality — that this time next month, he may well be familiarizing himself with a new organization.

“We’re not going to make big plans about how this season is going to go for Tyler,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We’re just going to take it one step at a time. So far he’s made good strides in that direction.”

When Beede entered spring training in 2020, he had just completed his first year in the Giants rotation and figured to factor in to their future plans. Beede was 26 year old and “felt like I was throwing the best I’ve ever been throwing,” he said. Then, in his second outing that spring, Beede felt discomfort in his right elbow, sending him down the path that has eaten up his past two years.

Fourteen months removed from Tommy John surgery, Beede was cleared to begin a rehab assignment last May. In 12 starts, he walked nearly a batter per inning — 32 in 35 2/3 innings — while posting a 6.56 ERA. He made his return to the majors July 10, allowing three runs in one inning of relief, and was sent back down, never returning to the major league roster.

Never before had Beede showed signs of serious command problems.

Throughout his ascent through the minor league system, Beede struck out more than twice as many batters as he walked. Even as he potsted a 5.05 ERA during his rookie campaign in 2019, he whiffed 113 in 117 innings with only 46 walks.

So, what has gone wrong?

The message from the Giants has been simple. Or, well, simplify.

“Simplified approach, lots of strikes, not a lot of mechanical cues, not a lot of pitch-mix changes, just fewer things to think about,” Kapler said. “Go out there and do it and be yourself.”

He has culled his offerings down to three pitches — fastball, curveball, change — and worked to clear his head while on the mound. In his first starts back from surgery last season, Beede said there was a lot on his mind, but he didn’t necessarily realize it.

“You think about the recovery. You think about going out there and pitching. I think as I was overcomplicating things, I knew I needed to simplify things,” Beede said. “That was the process for me, but it did take the offseason for me to step back and notice that I was overcomplicating things. …

“I think we’re all on the same page. … A simplified approach, just me going out there and attacking the zone with my pitches, is going to do the job for me. And then we can add on from there.”

Between Logan Webb, Carlos Rodón, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Alex Cobb, all five spots of the Giants’ rotation would appear to be accounted for, making it all the more difficult to find a roster spot for Beede. Facing 19 games in the first 20 days of the season, though — and with the expectation of expanded rosters to start the year — maybe that clears way for Beede to make the team out of camp.

If not, it’s hard to imagine a pitcher with stuff like Beede passing through waivers without at least one team staking a claim — the kind of low-risk, high-reward move for which the Giants’ front office has developed its own reputation.