The Dodgers have made a habit of drafting well-rounded, versatile, multi-sport athletes that have lots of tools, a strong competitive element, and great character. Clayton Beeter is a right-handed pitching prospect that checks all the boxes and is quickly becoming one of the hottest prospects in the entire organization.
Multi-Sport Star
Beeter grew up in the Great State of Texas and was a multi-sport star at Birdville High in the DFW area where he earned letters in all 4 years of his High School career. He was All-District on the gridiron twice and led the Hawks on the diamond to 2 Bi-District Championships while receiving All-District honors as a Senior where he averaged almost 2 strikeouts per inning and posted a 0.81 ERA. Although the DFW native was not drafted out of High School, he did have several high-level Division I offers and eventually settled in the West Texas town of Lubbock to play for Head Coach Tim Tadlock as a Texas Tech Red Raider.
Texas Tech
Under the guidance of Head coach Tim Tadlock, and pitching coach Matt Gardner, Texas Tech has become a power in College Baseball and has made the College World Series 4 times since 2014. Tech has a reputation as being “West Texas” rowdy, and, as a diehard Oklahoma State fan, I mean that with 100% respect. The Red Raiders love to have fun and have one of the best competitive elements of any program in the Country. A weekend series with Tech feels like a backyard brawl, and when teams leave Lubbock they are exhausted both mentally and physically.
Tommy John Surgery
Beeter was forced to Redshirt his first year on campus after injuring his elbow and eventually had Tommy John surgery in December of 2017. During the rehab process, the hard-throwing right-hander was able to focus on the weight room while not having to worry about being ready to pitch so he got a lot stronger, and eventually made it back to the mound as a Redshirt Freshman in 2019. Beeter’s return was a total success as he earned Freshman All-American status after throwing 20.2 innings in the closer role on a Tech team that won the Big 12 title, and finished in the Final 4 of the 2019 College World Series. With Tommy John in his rearview mirror and bigtime momentum, Beeter was moved into the Friday Night Starter role the next year as a Redshirt Sophomore and had 4 appearances before the 2020 season was canceled due to Covid.
Despite all of the stops and starts, the Dodgers saw his flame-throwing potential and drafted him in the Competitive balance Round of the 2020 draft as the 66th overall pick. The Competitive balance draft was put in place as part of the 2012-2016 Collective Bargaining Agreement and is meant to give the 10 lowest-revenue clubs from the 10 smallest markets an extra pick between rounds to help them become more competitive. The Dodgers acquired the Competitive balance pick used to acquire Beeter in a trade that sent Kenta Maeda to the Twins, which was the same trade that brought Brusdar Graterol and Luke Raley to the Dodgers as well.
On to the Dodgers
Beeter had pitched in the 2 most high-profile roles at Texas Tech and had shown that he could perform in big moments, so the Dodgers knew they were getting a player that was extremely competitive, was a great athlete, had multiple plus pitches, and could handle pressure. The Organization also knew that he had been an Academic All-Big 12 honoree as a Mechanical Engineering Major at Tech and had shown incredible work ethic during his Tommy John rehab, so he had elite intangible qualities to match his arm talent. The Dodgers have become masters at projecting the upside of prospects based on certain sets of measurables and intangibles, and have had a lot of success in developing young players that fit their mold. So, while 41.2 innings and just 4 starts may seem like a thin resume to some, the Dodgers had all the evidence they needed to feel good about drafting Beeter as highly as they did, and it is quickly turning into another big time success story.
Feature Cut
Beeter has a big fastball that sits 94-96 and can reach as high as 98, and when he is commanding his pitches, he has some of the best stuff in the organization. He has a unique “over the top” delivery and likes to use his fastball up in the zone, then tunnels all of his off-speed off of it.
Here is his breaking ball tunneled off of the high fastball
Here are the two side by side showing how well they are tunneled together. As you can see, both pitches start at the same tunnel, but his fastball on the left ends up at the top of the zone and the breaking ball on the right ends up in the dirt.
He pairs that combo with a really good slider.
Final Thoughts
If Beeter continues to develop his command for his secondary pitches, he will be a very effective Major League pitcher for many years. Beeter is crazy strong, extremely intelligent, has elite work ethic, is ultra-competitive, has a unique delivery and big stuff. His longest outing last year was 3.1 innings, so 2022 will be fun to see his pitch count increase, more than likely substantially, and to see how his game develops around longer outings. The Native Texan has shown that he becomes more consistent the longer he stays on the mound, so 2022 is setting up to be a huge year.
