Dodgers Hit Man

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. 

https://www.dreamsnseams.com/

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.