Cody Glenn-USA TODAY Sports
Tyler Beede is back in the majors, and Scott Kazmir is playing with the U.S. Olympic team, signifying Triple-A Sacramento might have a starter void. But more importantly, a bat boy void.
Without Tier Two personnel to do it, one of the two often was retrieving bats after each at-bat, both happy to just be playing baseball. One was coming off Tommy John surgery, the other off a nearly five-year absence from the pro game, but both were there for the same reason.
“I get to play baseball every day,” said Beede, who now will be playing Major League Baseball. “Whether it’s in the bullpen or being a starter or being on the bench cheering on my teammates.”
The role of Beede is still to be determined, a length option out of the bullpen or a possible starter down the line. He could make an appearance Wednesday, but the better bet is against Washington on Friday, when he and Logan Webb are options to start and probably could piece together six combined innings. For the first time since Sept. 26, 2019, Beede will pitch on a big-league mound.
The hope for the Giants is that Beede, who had struggled to throw strikes through 12 starts with the River Cats, will elevate his game as the platform is elevated. The hope is shared by the righty.
“I think there’s definitely a little bit more adrenaline being on the biggest stage and having more fans,” said Beede, whose stuff has returned before his command, with 32 walks in 35 2/3 innings in Triple-A.
He takes heart that he feels good, especially with pitchers on similar timetables, like the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, having suffered setbacks. He hasn’t, even if he still awaits feel for his breaking pitches.
He is returning to a club that cannot afford to let him go through growing pains.
“It’s a first-place team. Every guy that comes up that pitches, they’re high-leverage situations. There isn’t essentially a role where you go and get your feet wet,” said the 28-year-old, who looked like a breakout candidate before he went down in 2020 spring training. “… I know they’ve put thought into that. They’re confident as well as I’m confident in my abilities to contribute to a first-place team and be a guy they can rely on either out of the bullpen or as a starter.”
That will be what the Giants decide for a pitcher with a high ceiling, but one that might not be touched until after he moves more substantially away from the surgery. With Sammy Long down for now — an MRI Wednesday found low back inflammation but nothing further — there is a temporary fifth-starter vacancy behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto.
Maybe Beede fits in there. Maybe he becomes a bullpen weapon. Maybe he gets optioned after a long, 60-day rehab assignment that he hoped would end much sooner.
It is meaningless of course, but his ERA with the River Cats was 6.56.
“Takes time to shake the rust off. I think a good amount of it is just trust in myself to get that feel back from Tommy John,” Beede said on the field before Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals at Oracle Park. “It’s in there. Certainly not happy with those results, but it’s just part of the process of coming back. I’m certainly better than those numbers show.”