A few days ago I posted an article on young right-hander Geraldo Carrillo whom I had included in a group of players who seemed to be unlikely candidates to make it to the Dodgers. I mentioned Caleb Ferguson, Zach McKinstry and Victor Gonzalez. Another player came to mind that I neglected to mention that has proven it can be done. Also, since the minor league season is in hiding until at least 2021, I am a bit strapped for the kind of news I like to bring from the farm. So, in the archives I found an article I had written in July of 2015 after following a Loons’ game. I have simply added on to the story since then. The story began,
Great Lakes Loons third baseman Matt Beaty is enjoying his first season of professional baseball simply doing what he loves to do.
Beaty was born in Dresden, Tennessee and played four years of baseball with the Dresden High School Lions. In each of his four seasons with the team he led the Lions in home runs, batting average, and runs batted in. As a junior he hit 19 home runs and drove in 61 runs in a year when he had exactly zero strikeouts. Beaty earned All-State honors three times and was a two-time District Player of the Year. He was pretty much a full time athlete also playing basketball, golf, and football at Dresden High.
Following his 2011 high school season Beaty was selected as a catcher in the 48th round by the Kansas City Royals in that year’s First Year Player Draft. He chose not to sign and committed to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Belmont is located close to better known Vanderbilt University. He played four years with the Bruins making significant improvements in each year at Belmont.
Following his 2014 season Matt Beaty played with the Green Bay Bullfrogs of the Northwoods League which is a collegiate summer league. He led the Bullfrogs with a .296 batting average and was selected to the Big League Dreams showcase as well as the MVP on the Bulldogs. During his summer season he registered 15 multi-hit games and walked 31 times compared to 25 strikeouts.
Beaty’s senior year in 2015 at Belmont was a banner year. He hit .382 along with 91 hits, 12 home runs and 76 runs batted in while posting a .469 OBP and a .668 slugging percentage. He walked 32 times while striking out only 17. Nationally he ranked in the top 20 in eight different statistical categories while finishing the season second in the nation in runs batted in and RBI per game and third in total bases. For his efforts, Beaty became the first Belmont baseball player in the Division I era to earn All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball.
He topped off his season by being selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2015 First Year Player Draft. Upon signing with the Dodgers he posted on Instagram: “Made it official yesterday! So excited to start this journey. Glad to be part of such a great and historic organization.”
From the outside being drafted appears to be a relatively simple process. That is, sit back and wait. On the inside it can be considerably more complicated and nerve wracking. Jesica Parsley on June 14, 2015 in her Sports are Everywhere! blog posted an article entitled, “The Ugly Truth: MLB and The Draft”. I have always wanted an inside glimpse of what it must be like for a young man to wait to see if his name will even be called during the draft. Jesica provides that glimpse. It is an eye opener but in the final analysis both Matt and Jesica are happy with the way things worked out for them.
Jesica wrote: ”Draft Day(s):
On day two of the draft, the phone calls started early. Matt was talking to five different teams that were giving him offers and telling him they wanted to take him around rounds 5-10. The scouts said they would be back in touch closer to time. Only one team called back.”
“Matt didn’t want to turn teams down because what if that came back to bite him in the butt? He didn’t want to over negotiate himself because what if that scared teams away? He had been told that as a senior going in the Top 10 rounds was the best way to be a high prospect in the organizations eyes. But what if going in the Top 10 rounds was not the best deal? (Btw, it wasn’t.)”
“Matt liked the Dodgers offer the best and made that known to other teams. Everyone was so tense during those days because we just really did not know what the best way to handle the whole situation was. Matt was afraid that a team was just going to draft him without calling and making a offer because that has happened to his teammates in the past. Luckily, we did not have to wait long on day three of the draft to hear Matt’s name. And honestly, we had no idea the Dodgers’ were about to draft him. He had not talked to that scout that day. It just happened to all work out perfectly despite all the toss-ups.”
A quick interjection here. Jesica has been and continues to be a tremendous support in his baseball odyssey. On November 19, 2016 the two were married in the Barns of West Tennessee wedding venue. A journalist, Jesica continues on with a blog – Dreams and Seams.- which really chronicles Matt’s baseball life. Check it out.
The 6’ 0”, 195 pound left-hand hitting Beaty began his professional career with the Ogden Raptors of the rookie level Pioneer League in mid-June. In six games, five of them at third base, he hit .480 with an OBP of .519. On June 25th he was promoted to the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League.
After a very hot start with the Loons he settled down a bit posting a triple slash of .297/.353/.390. Notably missing was power as he hit only four home runs on the season.
Beaty was drafted as a catcher by the Dodgers but has played primarily at third base throughout the season. He spoke to that with Hugh Bernreuter of Mlive :
“The Dodgers said they drafted me as a catcher, but I’m not ready right now during the season to start doing that,” Beaty said. “When I got to Belmont, I was a catcher, but there were always catchers ahead of me who couldn’t play another position.”
“So, I jumped in and played the corner infield spots. In summer ball in the Northwoods League (Green Bay Bullfrogs), I also played the corner outfield spots and even played at second base. I even got in as an emergency catcher.”
Beaty is naturally interested in his batting average as are all players at any level. However, he is equally as interested and maybe more so in his on base percentage which would explain his walk to strikeout ratio throughout his college career and into the present season. During his four seasons of college ball he walked more than he struck out in each of the four years.
He would probably not define himself as a sabermetric or analytic geek but more so as a player who understands that job #1 in the batter’s box is to get to first base. In the same interview he discussed his walk rate with Hugh Bernreuter.
“You can hit the ball hard four straight times in a game and still come away with a big zero,” Beaty said. “But if you can draw a walk or two, you can get on base and make things happen. I have no problem with drawing a walk.”
“I never really focused on walks and strikeouts until my junior year in high school,” Beaty said. “I didn’t strike out all season. I thought that was pretty cool.”
“Since then, I’ve always done my best to battle to get walks, get on base. And if I get two strikes on me, I’m going to do what I can to get my bat on the ball and make them play defense.”
The then heavily bearded 22-year-old Beaty was a bit surprised as well as obviously pleased by his progress in 2015 but was not taking anything for granted.
“I don’t know where it’s going to go from here, but so far it’s been great.”
So to start the next chapter in Matt Beaty’s baseball journey, we do have the answer to his question about where it goes from here and it has been pretty great. I expect most of us even two years ago were not sure Matt would be wearing Dodger Blue.
Following his year with the Loons he moved on to Rancho Cucamonga for the 2016 season. With the Quakes he slashed .297/.352/425 with 11 home runs and 88 runs batted in. He was getting noticed but in a hitter friendly league so perhaps his 11 home runs were due to that friendliness.
If not noticed before 2017 Beaty definitely got noticed in 2017 with the Tulsa Drillers. His triple slash continued to rise posting a .326/.378/.505 line along with 15 home runs and 69 runs batted in.
He attributed his progression to a new mental attitude.
Beaty credits his mental approach to the early-season turnaround. When struggling, he talked with Drillers’ hitting coach Terrmel Sledge, who insisted that he change nothing about his swing. Instead, Beaty spoke with a Dodgers instructor who specializes in the mental approach to the game.
“Those talks,” Beaty said, “revolved around how to keep a positive mind-set even when things aren’t going great in the batter’s box.”
So, Yogi was right that 90 per cent of the game is half mental.
“He teaches us how to have positive thoughts, and how to keep yourself away from the negative thoughts,” Beaty said. “Like, ‘Oh, I’m starting to think of this, so I need to start thinking more of this,’ to put yourself in a position to have a better performance.”
To cap off his 2017 campaign he captured the league batting championship and was named the Texas League Player of the Year.
The game of baseball is tough. Beaty spent the majority of the 2018 season in the injured list with a finger injury. He played in only 31 games with the Oklahoma City Dodgers but did hit a respectable .277/.378/.406. That no doubt would test his mental toughness having lost most of a season at the AAA level.
After 32 games with the OKC Dodgers in 2019 he graduated to the parent Dodgers where he slashed .265/.317/.458 in 99 games along with 9 home runs and 46 runs batted in. The now 27-year-old Beaty has pretty much split his professional career between first base and third base but has spent some time in the outfield.
How did Matt Beaty pick up the nickname of the “Hit Man”? Wasn’t that reserved for Mike Easler or Don Mattingly? It seems not and was ascribed to Beaty by his teammate Justin Turner during the 2019 season.
“He quickly became known as the ‘Hit Man’ around here,” Turner said. “It’s a beautiful left-handed swing.”
“We always go out on the field [before games] and put on the [fastest pitching] machine and hit off of it,” Turner said. “It takes guys a round or two to get comfortable, to get balls out of the cage.
“Then Matt Beaty steps in there –- and it’s just a laser show from the first swing.”
Doc doesn’t call Beaty the, “Hit Man”, but he likes what he saw when he was called up during the past season
“In the little time we’ve seen him, he’s just a pro,” Roberts echoed. “Everything is with a purpose, from his cage work to studying pitchers to the mechanics part of it to when he’s getting ready to be called upon. I don’t need to look for him. … He’s just got a very high baseball IQ.”
We don’t know what chapter three will bring to Matt Beaty. Jesica wrote that it is a bit stressful during trade time and option time. That is, just getting settled into a place to reside and then perhaps having to quickly relocate. As for Matt, he is just enjoying the moment that he has worked so long and hard to earn. He summed it all up just about a year ago.
“This team is special,” he said. “To just be a part of it this year, it’s been really fun.”
Hitting back-to-back home runs at the MLB level with long time teammate Edwin Rios is also fun.
Discussion (78)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Nice comeback win. May did a great job and gets his first W of the year. Strip pitches tomorrow. So I guess Smith will be back behind the plate. Poor Barnes gets flattened twice.
The problem is that Baez only has the ninth best bullpen era on the team! He’s a slacker at 1.5!
Baez, Treinen, Jansen are the guys that should be in EVERY game that is close.
Pollock is trying to prove me wrong this season. That was a homerun against a right handed pitcher.
I take back all the bad things I said about AJ Pollock.
Well Barnes has done it! He’s officially at the Barnes line. .100. Move over Mendoza. There’s a new sheriff in town!
That was the best at bat of the year. Pollock had to protect against a blind umpire, and he still comes up with a clutch hit!
Rios out of the game. His toe must be hurt pretty bad after being hit by a pitch.
This is what I mean about defense is not a priority to me. Taylor comes in the game to play left field for better defense purposes and they take out Rios. Then to start the inning instead of Rios batting against the right handed pitcher you got Taylor batting against the right handed pitcher. All of this for better defense in left field. I don’t like it. You lose some offense for some better defense that makes no sense to me at all. And who’s to say that you’re gaining some defense by doing this.
That was a great outing by May. Now we need to get this kid a run next inning and get him the W
Seager clutch hit. 2-2. A lovely at bat!
Machado has been playing in short right field a lot. There’s a hole at third base why haven’t any of our guys taken advantage of that.
So much with the no-hit stuff!
Dustin May has No-Hit Stuff Tonight!
I told AF he should have signed Nick Castellanos, but NOOOOOOOOOOOO, he signed Mookie Betts.
It only cost him $300 Million more than Casty.
Look at the stats:
Mookie: .289/2 HR/6 RBI/.880 OPS/.347 OB%
Casty: .368/6 HR. 13 RBI/1.363 OPS/.442 OB%
You should have listened to be AF! Casty is averaging a HR every 6.2 AB’s. YIKES!
Ok, May was absolutely filthy there in the first. That was deGrom type stuff
May is pounding the strike zone and is filthy!
Hopefully for the sake of him and the Dodgers, don’t follow in the same footsteps as Matt Kemp, who apparently got lost when he started dating Brianna, at least that’s what it’s said …
I see the reason why Bellinger is lost with the bat …. Chase Carter, ex Stanton girlfriend !!
I did make one error in my prior post, Joc is also over .200 at .240. My bad…but his best hitters so far are the guys in the lower half of the lineup except poor Barnes. who could not buy a hit with a gold plated credit card.
The lineup is already out believe it or not.
Pederson RF
Muncy 2B
Turner 3B
Bellinger CF
Seager DH
Beaty LF
Rios 1B
Hernandez SS
Barnes C
Musical catchers still.
The idea should be to get a conga line going. Especially when you are one run down. Cody hits a homer, gets them to within a run, and the next 3 hitters all looked like they were swinging to tie the game instead of getting runners on base. Especially against a pitcher who has struggled so far this year. They were swinging at Yate’s reputation, not the pitcher he has been this year. ERA close to 16, and they were swinging at air.
Yes, Bellinger did try to bunt against the shift. However, he did it with 2 outs. With 2 outs I want Bellinger to swing away. He may hit a HR or an extra base hit. Now with no outs, then I would want Bellinger to bunt against the shift. Now you have a runner on first with no outs. This seems like common sense to me and should be taught to the team. Doc where are you?
Yes, Taylor should of moved Seager to third. Some of you have said the Dodgers are built on pitching and slugging. I am ok with that. But why can’t we also do the little things to win a game. It seems to me we would be a much more of a complete team if we did.
Same with extra innings with the runner on second. If a left handed was batting I would not bunt. A ground ball to the right side would move him over. Now, if a right handed batter was batting, I would look at bunting to move him over. However, Mookie and JT are two players I would not bunt. The rest would all bunt. I doubt if we ever see the Dodgers bunt in this situation. I hope I am wrong.
Doc should try Seager in the 1 spot, he’s hitting everything right now. I like Betts hitting 2nd. According to career stats Muncy hits best in the 3 spot, Beaty in the 6th spot, Smith in the 7th spot, Pederson in the 8th spot. Why not try them where it SEEMS LIKE they are most comfortable.
I really like this lineup at least against right handers (which is most games):
Seager SS
Betts RF
Muncy 2B
Bellinger CF
Turner
Beaty
Smith C
Pederson LF
Rios
Doc can pick who gets the DH job between Turner, Beaty, Rios. Obviously I’m talking about when Betts gets back from his injury and Seager is able to play SS.
Seager should be moved back to the 2 hole. He is a career .295 hitter from that spot with an OBP of .363. 57 homers and 171 RBI’s. Muncy’s OBP is a few points better, but his BA is not that great. I want a hitter there who makes contact.
I mentioned Smith’s base running gaff yesterday, but part of that is on Ebel. 3rd base coach should have kept him closer to the bag. Might have scored had Muncy got a hit, which is not happening very often right now. Roberts made a Captain Obvious statement, the team has no hit on all cylinders yet”. No kidding Dave. I will believe Bellinger is Bellinger again when he has a 3 hit game, and hits everything on the nose. Seager should be hitting in the top 4 of the order, Muncy and Turner should be dropped down. BP had it’s second hiccup. But I still hate the shift. Had they been playing straight up, that little bleeder that scored Machado from second would have been an out. One last blast. I wish these guys would learn to occasionally hit against the shift instead of trying to muscle balls past it. Too many hard grounders to first when the entire left side is wide open.
Tough loss. None of the pitchers with the exception of Floro looked good last night. Paddock was tough. Move on.
Not to nitpick but little mistakes take their toll over time. 2 things in the 5th were disturbing.
* After Seager’s lead off double in a 1 to 1 game, CT3 has just has to get him to 3rd, anyway he can, including bunting the baseball. Maybe a push bunt that can be a hit. But CT3 does the worst thing before 2 strikes and pulls an inside pitch to 3rd. A wasted at bat. With Seager still at 2nd, Beaty’s (excellent article Harold) single doesn’t score Seager, still leaving a DP possibility. Fortunately, Will Smith hit a double scoring both. All’s forgotten. No harm, no foul. But this type thing is why the Dodgers leave too many runners on base, in spells. Little things win championships.
* The big blunder was Smith getting picked off 3rd to end the 5th and taking the bat out of Muncy’s hands. Unforgivable. Where the hell is he going with that huge secondary lead. The grass cutout around 3rd base is 13 feet and Smith looked 10 feet past that when the catcher received the pitch. There was one look by the catcher and one pump fake to 3rd to prevent that lead. Smith and Dino never got the message. Dino, throw an anchor out there. Give the Padres credit. They put on a perfect called timing back pick with a pitch out. Textbook. Usually the called pick can be put on and the 3rd baseman and catcher have to have given a reply so both guys and the pitcher know it’s on. If all 3 aren’t in sync there is no pitch out, the 3rd baseman doesn’t break to the bag on time or at all, and the throw goes into left field. The had part of called picks is getting everybody on the same page.
Smith can get off as far as Machado is off the bag, but the huge secondary lead was the killer. Dino, too, should have noticed the excessive lead and helped Smith get a shorter lead. Again, where ya headed?
Is a bad baseball play that may have cost a run in a 1 run game.
I’m not nitpicking, just pointing out things we can improve on.
Just doesn’t seem the guys have that eye of the tiger look just yet. Letting too many chances go by, too many mistakes. Don’t have time to play your way into this season. Need to step up that sense of urgency
When did Beaty switch from being a RH hitter to being a LH hitter? Did he consider being a switch hitter? Really enjoyed “Dreams and Seams”. I have bookmarked it and will check it out in the future!
Even though we lost last night, there were some good things that happened in the game. Joc made two very good throws to nail runners on the bases along with a hit, Beaty, the subject of DC’s article had a hit and made a nice catch behind first base. Smith made an excellent throw to nab a runner trying to steal a base at second and also had a good hit.
Beuhler had a day off.
Beaty behind the plate would help the lineup against RHP. But, that’s not happening, right?
Buehler doesn’t look right, and who knows how long it’s going to take, but he and his 5+ ERA are going to roll around every 5th day so I sure hope it’s soon.
Mookie X-ray was negative. Soak it in some epsom salt, rub dirt on it and get back in there.
Lamet might be tough. 15 Ks in 10 innings. He’s gone 5 innings twice, only gave up 1 earned in each. 4 BB last time out. Make him throw strikes.
Dodgers -130. 8 1/2 runs. The line has been moving since late last night.
Yesterday, Bear mentioned that…” Some kid named Lumet pitching tomorrow.” Dinelson Lamet has actually started against the Dodgers on four different occasions. He is a 28 year old RHP out of the DR, and was considered a bright prospect early on. He has started off 2020 fairly well. In his 4 starts against LAD, Lamet has 21.0 IP, allowed 12 runs on 19 hits, 5 home runs, 13 walks, and 34 Ks. He has accumulated a 5.14 ERA and 1.524 WHIP.
With May, the Dodgers should be favored. Come on Badger, gives us the odds.
Scott Alexander admitted had he had tested positive for Covid 19, albeit with mild symptoms. That’s why he was late to summer training.
This morning I got my cup of coffee and turned on my iPad and logged on to DodgerTalk. What I saw there brought a big smile to my face. A picture of one of my favorite young Dodgers, Matt Beaty and his pretty wife. What a great picture by the way, DC, along with the article which I loved.
I would like to see Matt get more time in the Dodger games. He is such a good hitter, maybe not a big power person, but his swing is so level and strong along with a good attitude. I hope he is here to stay.
Matt Beaty is one of my favorites. Great article, Harold! Keep these stories coming.
I did not realize he had experience at catcher – the Dodgers could sure use a catcher with his hit tool. Hummmmm… probably too late to do that!
A few early observations:
I am changing Buehler’s first name back to Walker, from Striker. If the shoe fits, wear it! He is the poster child for being overconfident and he loves to berate and talk crazy to hitters. I think he is learning, it ain’t easy… and maybe he should just shut up and pitch! It’s still troubling to me that he was not ready to pitch.
I rarely predict what happens in a particular game, but I believe Dustin May is ready for the next step and will pitch into the 6th or 7th tonight. Look for a big game from him tonight. This is his 3rd start of the year and the 7th of his MLB career. He’s ready.
I see Rich Hill is on the IL with shoulder fatigue. He wanted to come back to the Dodgers and the Dodgers wanted him, but would not guarantee him a starting spot. I would have loved him in the pen, but really there’s no room.
Hyun-jin Ryu after 2 starts has an 8.00 ERA and a WHIP of 1.88 and Buster Olney is saying what a bad contact this is. I wish him well, but this is a typical Toronto move and it will end badly… maybe sooner than later.
OTOH, Kenta Maeda is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA and a WHIP of 0.636. I’d rather have Graterol!
Old friend Wille Calhoun is 1 for 18 out of the gate – that a .056 BA.
Badger nailed it: It’s a different term without Mookie!