The D-backs have agreed to a minor league contract with first baseman/outfielder Matt Beaty, as noted on the transaction log at MiLB.com. Beaty is now listed on the roster for Arizona’s Double-A affiliate in Amarillo.
Beaty, 31, is making his rounds through the National League West, having been drafted/developed by the Dodgers, who then traded him to the Padres in 2022. He also got into four games with the Giants last season, so the Snakes will be his fourth NL West club if he reaches the MLB level at any point.
In 675 big league plate appearances dating back to 2019, Beaty is a .247/.323/.394 hitter with 18 homers, a 16.7% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate rate. Most of the former 12th-round pick’s production came during a 2021 showing with the Dodgers that saw him post a hearty .270/.363/.402 line in 234 trips to the plate. Beaty has struggled mightily since that time, hitting just .173/.277/.240 in a small sample of 119 plate appearances between the Padres, Giants and Royals.
In addition to last year’s sparse big league work, Beaty spent 44 games in Triple-A between Omaha (Royals) and Sacramento (Giants), slashing a combined .279/.395/.455. That level of production is par for the course for Beaty in the upper minors. He’s played in parts of five Triple-A seasons and sports a .287/.386/.421 line overall, thanks largely to excellent contact skills (15% strikeout rate) and a keen eye at the plate (9.2% walk rate).
The Diamondbacks have been one of baseball’s least-productive teams against right-handed pitching, which the left-handed-hitting Beaty handles far better than he does fellow southpaws. D-backs hitters have logged a combined .224/.308/.357 against righties, sitting 25th in the majors by measure of wRC+ (92).
Joc Pederson has absolutely feasted on right-handed pitching, while Christian Walker and Gabriel Moreno have provided strong on-base marks against right-handers. However, the D-backs have received poor production against righties from veteran Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and even more surprisingly from lefty-swinging Corbin Carroll, whose overall output at the plate this season has been shockingly anemic. Lefty bench bat Pavin Smith has struggled as well and (barring a turnaround) would seemingly be the most at risk if Beaty shows well in the minors. Any such decision is likely a ways off, however. Beaty hasn’t played yet this season — his Instagram reveals he and his wife welcomed a child midway through the offseason while he was a minor league free agent — and he will presumably need some time to ramp up before he’d even be considered a big league option.
Nobody can beat the Doyers, duh
See 2023 NLDS…..
Also, See 2022 NLDS…..
It’s pretty clear that league is aware of Carroll’s struggles against high-inside heat, and have been bullying him there (the highly inflated IFFB% and drop in Pull% are the telltales here for me), and I wonder how much this is related to the shoulder tweak scare last season when his power production fell off drastically. Regardless, he’s gotta work something out, because they’re just going to keep pitching him there. And if he can’t force them to the outside (where his power stroke is), this is just going to keep happening for the foreseeable future.
Until he shows consistent improvement, him and Torey are both going to have to swallow their pride and move him down in the order. The rally killers can’t be at the top of the lineup. (That’s not even mentioning how poor his baserunning jumps have been this season)
And Walker has had poor batted ball luck; he’s scalding the ball, but the opposition is regularly converting outs on his low line drives (regardless of how hard they’re being hit). I mean, if I remember correctly, that line drive in the game last night with runners on 2B and 3B had an xBA of .900….. and it was an out lol
And FFS, I can’t wait to get Thomas back; Corbin is making some decent plays in CF, but his reads are clearly inferior to Alek’s, and he’s more often than not putting himself in poor positions for throws back to the IF while making the play (as is McCarthy, if he doesn’t over/under run the plays).
Teams are running with impunity on the OF arms (I’ve seen way too many runners tagging up and advancing 1B-2B on flyballs), since the only decent arms out there are Gurriel and Grichuk (and one is a LF, while the other is a part-time player).
I like Blaze as a player (his bat and eye have both been a bit more impressive than I thought they’d be), but his SS defense has been ROUGH. Fortunately, Newman has been on a bit of a tear offensively while playing solid defense, but frequently the left side IF looks lost out there without Perdomo (and Christian can only do so much to bail out poor plays).
Ultimately, this team isn’t playing the fundamentally sound defensive ball or converting well on their baserunning. Those were both hallmarks of the club in seasons past, and the pitching isn’t functioning well enough to offset it. If Merrill were still healthy, they might be sitting a little prettier…. but he’s not healthy.
What’s the definition of insanity?
If Merrill is your savior that is insanity.
Silly me for thinking a guy that: throws a 6-pitch mix for quality strikes, gets chase by tunneling well, and pitches deep into ballgames is a difference maker.
I forgot how trash Merrill was; I guess that it’s easy to forget, considering he’s: 15th among all SP by ERA for the last three seasons and is also 30th by FIP among that same SP sample, over the same time frame (plus, is 26th by WAR and 32nd by xFIP). Real terrible pitcher right there /s
Merrill Kelly has a record of 0-11 with an ERA of 5.49 and in 16 starts against the Dodgers in his career.
The Dodgers are the team the Dbacks are 10 games behind in May.
Silly you if you think Merrill is your savior.
That’s a brain-dead take right there; are you familiar at all with how scheduling works? Lol
The DBacks and Dodgers will play their 5th game against each other tonight; I don’t know who taught you numbers, but there isn’t a single reality in which 5=10
The DBacks are indeed down that far in the standings, but the Dodgers’ current 3-1 record against them is clearly not the sole reason; heck, considering that, they’re not even the primary reason, since a 3-1 record against a division opponent is +2 wins in the standings. Another free number lesson for you: 2 does not equal 10, ever.
Those are indeed Kelly’s career regular season numbers against the Dodgers and you won’t catch me disputing it, but you’re conveniently leaving out Merrill’s most recent start against the Dodgers (which wasn’t a regular season start; remember that one?).
The stats you brought up certainly look damning on Merrill’s regular season performance, until you remember that the 13 games against one division opponent under the current scheduling is 8% of the 162 game season (and the old 19 games was 12% of the season). All the numbers I put up there are still also true, and they include those numbers against the Dodgers (so he was doing pretty well with the other 88-92% of the season).
Objective DBacks fans know that taking the division from the Dodgers is an incredibly small probability outcome (and I’m one of those fans), and the DBacks fans that watch games know that they’re that far out because they’re not playing anywhere close to the brand of fundamentally sound baseball that they have for the last few seasons.
The DBacks consistently rated highly in fielding and baserunning; this season they’re running into outs left and right and flubbing the ball in the field. Carroll being MIA and kept at the top of the lineup is just the peanuts on top of the s*** sundae.
Carroll is overdue for a trip to Reno. The only time he’s shown any promise this season is when he hits the other way. Also, I still don’t understand why he doesn’t bunt more. Hell, bring up Almoro Jr for a stretch. Can’t do much worse.
If he makes the team he’ll be the Rockies away from playing for the whole division
I’m a solid d’backs fan but what I am seeing in this year’s team is not what I bargain for. One, no situational hitting at all from last year, way too much going for the long ball at all costs. Two, certain players are just not doing the job they are supposed to be doing, Gurriel got his contract and what happens all of a sudden, he can’t hit, D’backs bring in Suarez from Seattle and where is the bat? All I see his either bounce out to short/third or K’s. and finally, where is the sanity of batting a 190 hitter in the leadoff or second. Lavello has to realize this not 2023 anymore, it is 2024 and your star player is not producing anything, nothing. Either sit Carroll on the bench or send him down to AAA to iron out his issues. The season is just as important in the beginning as it is the final month.
Suárez is a deception but Gurriel’s bat is very streaky, same happened last year. I’d send Carroll to Reno too to work on his confidence but remember those decisions you mention aren’t Lovullo’s: Hazen runs the show here.