With the 66th pick in the MLB player draft, the Los Angeles Dodgers select Clayton Beeter, a draft eligible sophomore, right-handed pitcher out Texas Tech University, where he majored in accounting.
Like Landon Knack and Bobby Miller, Beeter was scouted by Marty Lamb. Lamb (who is worthy of his own profile) has had very good success with players he’s scouted(including Walker Buehler and Will Smith).
If Beeter signs(he does have some negotiating leverage as a sophomore), then Dodgers and Twins off-season trade becomes Kenta Maeda (plus cash considerations) and Jair Camargo for Brusdar Graterol, Luke Raley, and Clayton “High Heater” Beeter. Not a bad return for a pitcher that may not have a set role with the Dodgers and had expressed, by some accounts, a desire to be traded.
Unlike the Landon Knack selection, 6 picks earlier I the draft, I was not scratching my head with this pick. In my initial mock draft, I had listed Beeter as a choice that I wouldn’t mind with the 29th pick, the 60th pick or this pick, or the 66th pick. In my final mock draft, I did not include him because I did not think that he would still be on the board when the Dodgers picked at No. 29.
Beeter was not an unknown coming into the draft. Baseball America ranked Beeter at #58 on their pre-draft top 500. MLB Pipeline had Beeter at #51 in their pre-draft rankings. Fangraphs had Beeter at #19 on their board, while Kiley McDaniel had Beeter at #43 on his board for ESPN and said that Beeter “has some calling his stuff the best in the whole draft.” Keith Law put Beeter at #24 on his board, and called his curve “grade-80.” Eccentricladdie tweeted that:
Beeter was TrackMan’s #3 ranked pitching prospect in the class. Ridiculous pitch metrics w/ some mechanical shortcomings that make him a perfect fit w/ LAD’s PD group d pitching prospect in the class.
Keith Law had Beeter going in the first round to the New York Yankees at #28 in his mock draft. Jonathan Mayo’s mock draft also has the Yankees taking Beeter at 28. Jim Callis mocked Beeter going to the Washington Nationals at #22.
Baseball America had this to say about Beeter:
Beeter was a freshman All-American as a redshirt freshman in 2019, coming off a season in which he saved eight games in 21 appearances with a 3.48 ERA. He transitioned into a Friday night role for Texas Tech this spring, and performed well over four starts. In 21 innings Beeter posted a 2.14 ERA with 33 strikeouts (14.1 per nine) and four walks (1.7 per nine). As he’s gotten further from a Tommy John surgery he had in high school his stuff has gotten better and he’s thrown more strikes. Beeter was extremely erratic in 2019 (8.7 walks per nine) but showed significantly better control in a shortened 2020 season. Additionally, Beeter has a powerful pitch mix with a fastball that has gotten up to 97 mph, with a hammer curveball with top-to-bottom shape that has plus potential. Teams would have liked to see Beeter over a full season to see if his stuff and control were maintained the entire year in a starting role. The pitch analytics on both his fastball and curveball are reportedly impressive, and he has a solid arm action with a higher slot. Without a full 2020 season to scout him, teams will have to determine if the real Beeter is the 2020 version, the 2019 version or some hybrid between the two. He could be drafted as high as the second round to a team that believes he’s a starter.
MLB Pipeline had this analysis of Beeter:
Beeter has had as many elbow operations as quality starts (two) in college, yet he pitched so well this spring that some scouts think he belongs in the first round. He blew out his elbow during fall practice before what would have been his first season at Texas Tech, having Tommy John surgery in December 2017 and an arthroscopic procedure seven months later. He led the Red Raiders’ 2019 College World Series semifinalists with eight saves as a redshirt freshman, then really opened eyes with nearly twice as many strikeouts (33) as baserunners (18) in 21 innings in 2020.
Beeter added rather than lost velocity as he worked longer stints this year, sitting at 93-96 mph and peaking at 98 with his fastball. He has a pair of power breaking balls, a wipeout curveball in the low 80s and a slider in the mid-80s that some evaluators believe is even better. He even flashes at least a solid changeup, though he doesn’t turn to his fourth option very often.
Employing an overhand delivery that creates deception and steep downhill plane, Beeter tunnels his pitches extremely well. Scouts can’t figure out how he went from averaging 8.7 walks per nine innings as a reliever to 1.7 as a starter without any significant mechanical changes. His lack of track record is worrisome but it’s hard to argue with the quality stuff and strikes he unleashed this spring.
Billy Gasparino had this take on Beeter:
“We saw him pitch a lot last year and thought we had him pegged as what kind of talent he was. Whether it was the extended period away from his Tommy John surgery that he started to get his feel back, or his tempo improved, his execution improved, his ability to re-focus mentally and adjust quickly after making a bad pitch. “It just all really improved. His curveball strike percentage went up and he started to show a little bit of a change. He just became more of a starter option than we ever thought he would be. “The Texas Tech coaches say he’s one of the strongest guys they’ve ever had as a pitcher there. The athleticism stood out, we love his makeup and engineering background. It just all came together for us on a guy we really liked.”
Clayton Beeter is from Cooleyville, Texas, which is a few miles northeast of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He is the son of Mike and Lana Beeter. Clayton has a sister named Jaclyn, who attended the University of Texas at Austin. Beeter grew up going to 30-some Texas Rangers games a year. His family had season tickets behind first base at Globe Life Park. Looking at his Instagram page, he appears to be an avid outdoors man, who loves goose hunting.
Beeter attended Birdville High School where he was a 4 year letter winner. His coach was Vance Bonner, who played Junior College baseball for Tim Tadlock, who was Beeter’s coach at Texas Tech Beeter helped lead Birdsville to a District Championship in 2014 as well as two Bi-District Championships in 2015 and 2017. Put together a 4-1 record junior season over 25.2 IP, striking out 45 batters behind a 2.70 ERA. He earned first-team All-District honors his senior season, when he posted an ERA of 0.81, with 106 strikeouts in 55 innings pitched. He also had a .417 batting average with two home runs. Out of high school, Beeter was ranked as the 125th best high school prospect in Texas by Perfect Game. He played his summer ball under with the NTXBC Dirtbags, coached by Pat Woods. For good measure, Beeter is also a three-year football letter winner and was named first team All-District in his freshman and sophomore seasons, and for giggles he was also the Birdville High School Valedictorian. Impressive high school resume. Despite the resume, Beeter was not drafted out of high school. As Beeter put it, he was “more of a thrower than a pitcher.” So he went to Texas Tech, choosing the Red Raiders over Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Air Force. Despite his success, he said.
Then, to make sure that he would be drafted by the Dodgers, Beeter blew out his elbow in the fall of his freshman year at Tech, and redshirted in 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Then to make absolutely sure that he would be drafted by the Dodgers, Beeter had an arthroscopic procedure done seven months later. Gasparino and Friedman don’t appear to want to draft a pitcher unless, and until, they have the TJ surgery out of the way. Mind you he didn’t just sit around. He sweated a lot and called the time spent on recovery from elbow surgery
“a blessing in disguise.” “Tommy John rehab is a pretty rigorous process,” Beeter said, “and it’s something every day as far as arm care and strength. Thankfully, I got to travel with the team that year, so while everybody else is getting ready for games, I’m just worried about my rehab and strength training.”
If you see any pictures of Beeter, you’ll see that he is physical specimen, who looks really strong. His Tech coach, called Beeter one of the “strongest, most athletic” players that he has coached.
After missing his entire freshman season due to injury, he returned in 2019 and served as Texas Tech’s closer. He was a freshman All-American that year after recording eight saves with a 3.48 ERA, 40 strikeouts(out of 93 batters faced) and 20 walks(ouch) allowed in 20 2/3 innings.
As a redshirt sophomore this spring, Beeter moved to the starting rotation, serving as Texas Tech’s ace. He seemed to find a home in that role until the NCAA canceled the remainder of the baseball season in mid-March. He posted a 2.14 ERA with 33 strikeouts and four walks allowed in 21 innings.
If you see any pictures of Beeter, you’ll see that he is physical specimen, who looks really strong. His Tech coach, called Beeter one of the “strongest, most athletic” players that he has coached.
After missing his entire freshman season due to injury, he returned in 2019 and served as Texas Tech’s closer. He was a freshman All-American that year after recording eight saves with a 3.48 ERA, 40 strikeouts(out of 93 batters faced) and 20 walks(ouch) allowed in 20 2/3 innings.
As a redshirt sophomore this spring, Beeter moved to the starting rotation, serving as Texas Tech’s ace. He seemed to find a home in that role until the NCAA canceled the remainder of the baseball season in mid-March. He posted a 2.14 ERA with 33 strikeouts and four walks allowed in 21 innings.
“I thought I was getting better and better every time I went out there,” Beeter said. “I was excited to see where I was and where I could have ended up as the season went on.”
He throws his fastball as hard as 98 miles per hour and has an effective curveball. Those two pitches make him a promising professional prospect. Beeter has a very deceptive delivery which helps his pitches play up even more. He throws his fastball from 93-96 mph and can run it up to 98. And his curveball, thrown at 81-86 mph, is a difference maker. His curveball might be his best pitch and serves as an extremely effective out pitch. It’s a sharp breaking pitch that consists of 12-to-6 break and typically generates a high percentage of strikeouts. The Athletic’s Keith Law calls it grade-80, top of the charts on baseball’s 20-80 scouting scale.
“My curveball has always been my best pitch and my fastball has caught up with it over the last couple years as the velocity has improved,” Beeter said. “My breaking ball always has been pretty sharp and I try to make it 1-7 or as close to 12-6. I will slow it down sometimes for a strike early in the count and I can speed it up later in the count down in the zone.”
Although he didn’t get to pitch that much, Beeter showed significant improvement with his command this season. After allowing 8.7 walks per nine innings in 2019, Beeter limited the number of walks he surrendered this spring to 1.7 walks per nine innings. He didn’t make any major mechanical adjustments, he said. Instead, he made “one or two” small tweaks to his mechanics from last season. He also has developed more comfort in his mechanics since his injury, “as his delivery changed to more over the top following the surgery,” he said. Besides making sure he remains consistent with his mechanics, Beeter said that he “also wants to work on his changeup movement.” He has also expressed a strong feel and a lot of confidence in his changeup but believes it needs to display better movement to be more effective.
“Everyone can improve their changeup movement,” Beeter said. “You see some big leaguers with some nasty movement where it looks like their changeup is just falling off the table. Everyone wants one like that. I think I have the speed difference, but I want to get more movement.”
I think “High Heater” Beeter has a real good chance to remain a starter. I view him as a better version of Caleb Ferguson. Potentially, being a much better version of Ferguson. I could see him as a #2 or #3 starter, a closer or a very effective Ross Stripling. My research on him also showed him to be an outstanding young man. He’s very bright and determined. I think this was best summed up when asked why a team should draft him, Beeter replied, “I think a team should draft me because I’m a hard-working athlete, and I think I have a lot of upside to develop well in the minor league system.”
I think he signs, and after he does, I’m looking forward to watching him move through the system quickly.
Song for the day, with my changed lyrics:
They told him, you’ll never make it here
Don’t think you have a chance, you better disappear
we don’t see the fire in your eyes and your words we cannot hear
So beat it, just beat it
You better run, you better do what you can
Don’t want to see you back, until you’re a better pitching man
You want to be tough, better do what you can
So beat it, unless you show us you aren’t that bad
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
No one wants to be defeated
Show us how strong you are and that you have the fight
every day is another challenge, a new game every night
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
Just beat it, beat it
With your arm falling off, you better leave while you can
We don’t want an injured boy, we need you to be a man
If you want to play for us, you better do what you can
So beat it, just beat it
You have to show us that you’re really not scared
that you’ll work real hard, and do everything to prepare
they don’t care if you’ve been injured, they’ll beat you if they can,
just don’t cry that it’s not fair
So beat it, unless you show us you are ready to compete
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
I see you now and I think you can’t be beat
Show us how strong you are and that you have the fight
every day is another challenge, a new game every night
And as hard as you have worked, I know that
you will beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it
Dodgers have had some excellent scouts through the years. Kenny Myers, who was the scout who found Willie Davis and Roy Gleason, Mike Brito, Ralph Avila, it has always seems they sign some real gems. Danny Ozark and even Lasorda did a little scouting at one time. One of my favorite Clint Eastwood movies is Trouble With the Curve, he plays a scout who is losing his site. But can tell by the sound of the ball coming off of the bat that the prospect he is scouting has trouble hitting a curve ball. Pretty interesting movie. Clint does not kill anyone….rare for him.
Bear, check end of last thread.
Hodges 54 to Bear on last thread!
Hey Bear. I was also just a body surfer but, of course, mine was all at the Jersey shore. Wildwood was my favorite beach. On the other hand my oldest son had a board and he surfed year round (including thru the Jersey winter). I think he was nuts but he’s doing well today although his surfing days are over.
By the way I saw you had a birthday recently. I wish you a belated happy birthday. I have a birthday today. My age is “Bear” plus 3…lol.
Your usual excellent job 2d2. Thanks for introducing us to “High Heater” Beeter. Did you come up with that or was that someone else’s tag? It’s a good one.
Can’t say exactly why, but I’m expecting a bigger career from Beeter than I am from Miller. That “80” rated curveball really has me jazzed.
Thank you STB! I actually thought of the name on my own. He has great spin rate and pitches up in the zone, so I thought why not.
For all the beet eaters on this blog, I tried to come up with a vegetable name to help carry on that them, but drew nothing but blanks.
Beeters Heeter…The Red Menace…Thanks for the B-Day wishes Jeff
Thanks for the research and post, 2D2! Beeter just might be a real gem. I’m betting they’ll have to go over slot to sign him, but he could be worth it.
After reading about Beeter I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a Stripling-like swingman, but I’m sure they’ll try him as a starter first. He could also be a potential dominant closer. Most closers don’t have more than two good pitches, but Beeter could have four.
Hi Adam, thanks for your response to
my post on the last thread.
Sorry to hear that you’re also feeling the strain. This Virus will have more victims down the road.
Think I saw a picture of you and your son at Spring Training – that must’ve been great – something I wanna do at some point.
Gotta keep positive, things will get easier, and watching Baseball will certainly help.
Thanks, Watford.
FYI from Reuters;
The Philadelphia Phillies have closed their training facilities in Clearwater, Florida, after five players and three staff members tested positive for COVID-19, the Major League Baseball (MLB) team said on Friday.
Ruh Roh.
Channeling your inner Scooby Doo there Badger???
“Then, to make sure that he would be drafted by the Dodgers, Beeter blew out his elbow in the fall of his freshman year at Tech, and redshirted in 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Then to make absolutely sure that he would be drafted by the Dodgers, Beeter had an arthroscopic procedure done seven months later“
Nice touch 2d.
I like this pick, though the iffy control is something to watch. With so many successful surgeries now on the books I’m not as concerned about that as I once was. They can sign him if Vogel goes to UCLA.
Why can’t they sign both? They have already spoken to the players before they were drafted to determine what their asking price was. They have already saved $227,200 for Gavin Stone. They are going to save a ton on Landon Knack. He is a 5th year senior with a bonus slot of $1,157,400 . They do not need to go anywhere near that to sign him (save $1,000,000???). Taylor’s slot is $434,300. I would not be surprised if he signs underslot. He would not project that high in a “normal” draft. Bobby Miller will be right around his slot. There is going to be a lot of bonus dollars to give to Beeter and Vogel.
Update on Bobby Miller. He signed for $2.2MM or a $224,600 reduction from the slot allocation.That is nearly $450,000 in bonus savings without Landon Knack or Carson Taylor.
oh, great news!
Why give him over slot? Despite the high praise about his speed and defense, the ceiling is not high on Vogel. His overall grade from scouts is 45/80. He has the tools to be a contributor professionally, but he does not come with the upside that other top prospects possess.
Badger, can we make it a Jack in the Box please. My favourite Burger.
You guys were so lucky to grow up in Socal. Certainly right up there among best places to live in the world, and your memories prove that. Not many kids get to surf in their spare time.
Closest Jack in the Box to me is 32 miles away in Pueblo. We have Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Sonic here in town and some local burger joints. Owls, one on HWY 50, and Big Burger which is up on 9th street. 3 Subway’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Dominos, and quite a few local restaurants of different types of food. We have an IHOP and a Chili’s. My favorite burger is Carl’s Jr. I love the char broiled burgers. We also have a Burger King too. Carl’s Jr is over in Florence , about 6 miles away. I was born in So Cal Watford. Downtown LA to be exact, so I am a native Angelino. But my mom bounced around a lot, so I spent some of my youth in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada. We lived on a little ranch outside of Elko…40 miles outside. No running water, no electricity in a 2 room log ranch cabin. My dad was the only cowboy working for those folks on that particular spread. But most of my youth was in California. But we bounced around there a lot too. Lived in Redondo, Hawthorne, Lennox, and Lawndale. Mom worked for Northrop for a while. We also spent time in Goleta, and Buellton. Buellton is where there is a Anderson’s Split Pea restaurant. Baseball became an integral part of my life in 1955. I started out playing over the line, and 3 flys up. A game where if you caught 3 balls on the fly, you were next to go up and hit fungos to the other players. Lots of bruises in that game because you were trying to catch the ball and take it away from another player. Great time and place to be a kid. So many activities and things to do. Summers were idyllic with the beach, or one of the local pools. 10c to get in. They would open about 10 in the morning. We would swim most of the day. Almost every park had a rec center where you could play basketball and such. I just wish my kids and grandkids could have grown up in an era like that.
Not a lot of vegetarian choices at Jack’s. Bean burritos are safe for me. And I can get filled up on $2.
Not a veggie, so it works for me.
Good write-up, 2D2. Good parody. I am really looking forward to this very talented young man named Clayton from Texas. Hope the other talented Clayton will mentor him. Please excuse my ignorance but can anyone explain exactly what “redshirting” is and is it a wholly Texan term?
A redshirt year is a year in which a player is on scholarship and can practice, but does not play, in exchange for an extra year of eligibility. If a player redshirts — meaning they don’t play for one year — they will have five years to compete in four seasons.
Happy bday Hodges!
Thanks Bobby.
Thank you Badger. I am not judging. I am delighted to see the draft picks this year and hope the Dodgers sign them all. But, is the redshirting practice considered to be “sandbagging”? I also kind of like the idea posted somewhere that the minor leaguers have a season if the big teams can not come to agreement.
Redshirting is not sandbagging. It is most generally used when a player is injured and cannot play that year, and not losing a year of college eligibility. Using Landon Knack as an example, he is considered a 5th year senior, meaning he played 4 years of college baseball in 5 years of college because he had a redshirt year. Redshirting is more of a consideration in college football than baseball or basketball.
OK. thank you AC for clearing that up for me. I have heard the term used and wondered what it really meant. I understand the need for it now and did not mean in any way to cast a unfavorable light on the athletics that used it. Sorry, just starting to get a litttle worried we will not see baseball this year but have not entirely given up hope.
Good news! – We’ve signed Bobby Miller for about $225,000 under slot, money that can be added to the Beeter-Vogel Fund.
Bad news – along with the Phils, the Blue Jays have also shut down in Florida and now the Giants have done the same in Arizona. There is talk of shutting down all 30 facilities to give them a thorough cleaning and establishing further protocols. That won’t do any good if players are allowed to go into the outside world and there is now talk of doing a bubble situation where they are isolated from everyone. I would imagine a large number of players would then opt out.
It may just be time to give up on 2020.
It looks like players are taking their signing bonuses as a bird in hand and not taking chances as to what might be behind door 2.
That might mean that Betts asks for a signing bonus due upon signing and then be reasonable with his demands for salary.
91% of the people who have died of COVID-19 are over 60 years of age. Almost 50% of the deaths have been in nursing homes. If you are in your 20’s or 30’s the odds of dying of COVID-19 are probably less than dying in car crash.
At 66, I had it and while it was not pleasant, I have had worse. I fully expect some outbreaks on teams once the season starts. That’s why there are the expanded rosters.
Play on!
You keep saying that like it’s supposed to mean anyone under the age of 60 is safe and that is simply not true.
Covid-19 is of course hard on the elderly, with those 65 and older accounting for 80% of the U.S. deaths from the disease. But this is true of most illnesses: In 2018, 78% of all U.S. deaths from internal causes (that is, excluding accidents, murders, overdoses and the like) were among those 65 and older. The chart I just read said somewhere around 20% of the deaths from COVID-19 are within the age group of players and coaches. Sure, if you’re under 35 your chances of survival are are 90% or better, but are you going to risk your and your family’s health by taking that chance? Wait, you already said you would. But most people in this country would not. Put it this way, if you don’t risk it your chances of surviving this virus go up dramatically. As the number of cases continue to rise, I can see a lot of players and coaches opting out.
There are still a few visiting locker rooms that are small and crowded and with teams having an expanded roster it will take continuous commitment to keeping safety protocols. Players can still make tantalizing amounts of money if this season is played. I will place no bets.
Associated deaths with Covid-19 per million people
https://miro.medium.com/max/2000/1*RKopICIN0FVeBwOWWlkwhQ.png
Note; we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that even if you survive COVID-19 you could end up with lifelong kidney, lung or heart problems.
These articles on the COVID-19 outbreak experienced by sailors in close quarters on the USS Theodore Roosevelt could be relevant to most baseball players. Only 2 people had symptoms serious enough to require hospitalization. As would be expected, no information or conclusions on impact to older individuals.
“This study shows young, healthy adults with COVID-19 might have mild, atypical, or no symptoms; therefore, symptom-based surveillance might not detect all infections,” the Navy statement says. “Use of face coverings and other preventive measures could mitigate transmission in similar settings.”
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/military/story/2020-06-09/cdc-study-of-roosevelt-outbreak-finds-lower-rates-of-covid-19-among-sailors-who-wore-masks
https://www.wtkr.com/news/military/navy-cdc-release-findings-from-covid-19-investigation-on-uss-theodore-roosevelt
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6923e4.htm?s_cid=mm6923e4_w
Boy would I like to be a running back in the NFL this year. Imagine facing a defensive line where the guys have to line up at least 6 feet apart. Wait………….that isn’t one of the new rules?
Apparently the MLB owners have decided they will not play more than 60 games this season and are not going to make a counter offer to the players. Of course that was Friday night’s decision. Stay tuned for Saturday.
I see Dr Fauci has said Major League Baseball would be ill advised to play deep into the Fall, as in not past September.
MLB is very close to just implementing a 50 game season and can probably win the grievance because of what Fauci says, although he doesn’t know crap. No one does. This is uncharted water.
I have been told I can’t get COVID-19 again, but I don’t believe it. I wear a mask but I also live my life. 104 temp and pneumonia is no joke, but I have no lingering problems. The thing is: this COVID-19 is a real strange thing.
We are headed to Charleston, SC Sunday for a Mini-Vacation just in time to see COVID-19 spiking there. I am not down for it, but my wife is determined to go… along with the rest of the family.
My daughter and my son at his 21st Birthday party last night. I miss writing at LA Dodger Talk, and I love all of you, but I am having the time of my life and baseball is secondary. I am soooooo blessed!
Mark, you couldn’t find a place with blue umbrellas? Enjoy life masked man and write when the mood strikes.
Well hell, lets just shut everything down. Tired of all of it. No baseball this year? Fine, the trout are biting. The sun is out, it is a nice day for a picnic in the mountains. Just avoid people. Problem solved. Nice pic Mark. My two youngest grandkids both have birthdays this month. Laycee turns 16, and Phynix will be 18. Enjoy family. They are more important than any game. Or bunch of Billionaires and millionaires fighting over money.