Three Takeaways: Tyler Beede Would be Better Utilized as a Reliever (+)
PITTSBURGH — The Tyler Beede experiment is not going very well.
The right-hander made his fourth start Saturday night since being moved into the rotation from the bullpen. He wound up allowing five runs in four innings in a 10-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park.
Beede is 0-2 with an 8.25 ERA as a starter.
That comes following a good run as a reliever after being claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on May 12. He had a 2.64 ERA in 17 games.
However, he hasn’t been able to convert that performance over to the starter role.
The Reds scored an unearned run in the third inning on rookie shortstop Oneil Cruz’s throwing error. Then the game got away from Beede during a four-run fourth inning.
Austin Romine hit a two-run double with two outs. Jake Fraley followed with a long two-run home run that extended the Pirates’ lead to 5-0.
Fraley’s blast was measured at 443 feet. It cleared the right-field stands and bounced into the Allegheny River.
Fraley became the 44th player to hit a ball into the river since PNC Park opened in 2001.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said the reason for Beede’s fourth-inning struggles was a simple one.
“He just missed in the middle of the plate,” Shelton said. “He missed in the middle of the plate on the homer. He missed in the middle of the plate on the double to Romine. That’s what hurt him.”
Despite taking him deep, Fraley was complimentary of Beede.
“I was battling my butt off against Beede in the first two at-bats and he was pitching well,” Fraley said. “I finally got a pitch I could something with and didn’t miss it.”
Beede blamed his fourth-inning woes on not being able to make pitches.
“I think poor execution, probably,” Beede said. “(Romine) put a good swing on it. Obviously, ninth hitter, probably could have executed and thrown a different pitch but didn’t execute the pitch. He put a good swing on it, extended the inning, and then, with Fraley, I left a pitch over the middle.”
No one questions Beede’s raw talent.
The Toronto Blue Jays made Beede their first-round draft pick in 2011 following his senior year of high school in Groton, Mass. He instead went to college at Vanderbilt and wound up being a first-round selection in 2014 by the Giants.
However, it just hasn’t happened for Beede as a starting pitcher at the big league level. He is now 29 years old and has gone 5-12 with a 5.33 ERA in 29 career starts.
His 3.94 career ERA in relief is not an eye-popping figure. However, he showed he can succeed in that role this year before the switch to the rotation.
The Pirates don’t have a lot of starting pitching options at the present. It is becoming clear Beede isn’t a rotation option for the future.
CASTRO REDEEMING HIMSELF
Pirates rookie infielder Rodolfo Castro is going to have a hard time living down the cellphone incident.
Castro went viral Aug. 9 when he slid into third base in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and his cellphone fell out of his pocket. He was suspended one game by Major League Baseball, a punishment he has appealed.
However, Castro is starting to draw attention to his play on the field. He accounted for the Pirates’ run by hitting a home run over the 410-foot notch in left-center field in the fourth inning.
Castro had two of the Pirates’ four hits.
Since the Phone Game, he has gone 12-for-36 (.333) with a double, two triples, and two homers. It may not be enough to completely erase the boneheaded move in Phoenix but at least it’s a start.
“I think he’s been consistent with the pitches he’s swinging at,” Shelton said. “And that’s one of the things that we asked him to focus on when he went to (Triple-A Indianapolis). He’s swinging at the right pitches. When we’ve seen him do that, he’s hit the ball hard. That was evident tonight. I mean, for a left-handed hitter to hit a homer where he hit it, that’s a long way.”
STOUT’S NIGHTMARE
Left-hander Eric Stout came on to pitch the ninth inning and wound up being charged with five runs while retiring only one of the seven batters he faced.
There is really nothing I can add to that.
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