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Brandon Beachy

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Brandon Beachy

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Over 1,500 players were taken in the 2008 MLB draft, and Indiana Wesleyan University third baseman and closer Brandon Beachy was not one of them.  Braves scout Gene Kerns signed him as an undrafted free agent for $20,000, and later remarked, “He’s just a young man with a lot of talent that no one discovered.”

After Beachy led the minors with a 1.73 ERA as a starting pitcher in 2010, he could no longer be ignored.  He got the call at age 24, and in his second big league start Beachy struck out nine in an outing against the Nationals.  He made the Braves’ NLDS roster against the Giants, but didn’t get into a game in that series.

Beachy broke camp in the Braves’ rotation in 2011 and had an excellent season.  He put up a 3.68 ERA in 25 starts, leading all of MLB in strikeout rate among those with at least 140 innings.  Beachy’s 169 punchouts set a Braves rookie record, until Julio Teheran topped it by one two years later and Spencer Strider flew past both of them last year.  And keep in mind, 2011 was a time when the average MLB starter had a 17.6 K%, as opposed to 21.6% in 2022.  Beachy put up a 28.6 K% that year, in his first full season.

Beachy was still riding high on June 16th, 2012, leading the Majors with a 2.00 ERA after 13 starts.  Unfortunately, at that point Beachy wound up needing Tommy John surgery.  Only 13 months later, Beachy was back on a Major League mound with Atlanta.  His ascent was again derailed when it was discovered he’d need a second Tommy John procedure the following spring.

Non-tendered by the Braves after 2014, Beachy signed a deal with the Dodgers in February 2015.  He made it back for a couple starts in July of 2015, but sadly, those would be the last of Beachy’s MLB career.  He made one appearance for the Arizona League Dodgers in 2016, and didn’t resurface again until signing with the independent league New Britain Bees in August 2018.  Beachy parlayed that into a minor league deal with the Giants in 2019.  He made one appearance for the Sugar Land Skeeters in 2020 before calling it quits at age 34.  As Beachy puts it in an email to MLBTR, “Fear of what was next led to a few comeback attempts (some indy ball and minors) I probably shouldn’t have made.”

Unfortunately, the realization around MLB that pitchers need more than 13 months to recover from Tommy John surgery came after Beachy first received the procedure.  His story serves as a reminder that a return to form is far from guaranteed after this serious surgery.

It was surprising that Beachy made it to the Majors in the first place, and then after he established himself it was surprising that he only made 48 career starts.  However, he can still say that at some point 11 or 12 years ago, he was one of the very best pitchers in MLB.  In 2011, Beachy punched out 10+ batters on three separate occasions.  And in 2012 against the Marlins, he authored a complete game, 122-pitch shutout.

Once one of the faces of the Braves franchise, Brandon is now into franchising in a different sense.  In explaining his post-playing career, Beachy says, “Franchising was for me. I could use the skills that I developed through a life in sports (hard work, self-motivation, resilience, teamwork and leadership) and apply them to a proven system to be successful.”  That led Brandon to a company called FranChoice, where he offers “a free service of educating other former players, and people of all walks of life too about franchising and then after getting to know them, match them with businesses that would be fits for them and their goals, guiding them through that process.”  You can check out Brandon’s LinkedIn page here.

Brandon chatted with MLBTR readers for nearly two hours today, regaling us with some fantastic baseball stories.  The one about his hijinks at Wrigley Field is a classic.  Brandon also discussed his former Braves teammates, his Tommy John experience, pitching against former stars of the game, and much more.  Read the transcript here.

If you’re a current or former MLB player, we’d love to have you on for a chat!  It’s quite easy to do, and you get to pick which questions to publish and answer.  Reach out if you’re interested!

Giants Sign Brandon Beachy To Minors Deal

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Per Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the Giants have signed righty Brandon Beachy to a minor league pact. Beachy had been out of affiliated ball since 2015, when he made two late-season starts for the Dodgers.

The 32-year-old Beachy was an early-decade stalwart for the Braves; after a circuitous route to the majors, which saw the Indiana-born product go undrafted following a decorated career at little-known Indiana Wesleyan University, the then 23-year-old broke in with Atlanta during the club’s Wild Card run in 2010.  In four injury-marred seasons with the club, Beachy posted a stellar 9.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 in 46 games (all starts) on the way to an excellent 3.23 ERA/3.34 FIP.

Beachy’s career was derailed after a 2012 Tommy John surgery and numerous setbacks in the subsequent rehab. Since returning to the big-league hill for five cameo appearances in 2013, and a second Tommy John that wiped out his 2014, Beachy has appeared in just 14 professional games, most of which came with the AAA-Oklahoma City Dodgers in 2015, the first in the four-year GM tenure of current Giants president of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi. After signing a one-year, $1.5MM pact with Los Angeles prior to the 2016 season, the 6’3 righty’s campaign was derailed by a recurring bout with elbow tendinitis; after the injury failed to progress in the way he’d hoped, Beachy left the team (and organized baseball) for the remainder of that season and the next.

He did attempt a 2018 comeback with the unaffiliated New Britain Bees of the Atlantic League, striking out a dozen men in just twelve appearances, though attendant scouting reports are predictably scarce. The Giants, though, whose upper-minors starting-pitching depth has been scraped clean of anything resembling a big-league track record, are perhaps a better spot than any for a longshot reclamation project, and should give the aging righty ample opportunity to prove his tank isn’t set permanently on empty.

Brandon Beachy Signs With Atlantic League’s New Britain Bees

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The New Britain Bees of the independent Atlantic League announced today that they’ve signed right-hander Brandon Beachy.

It’ll be the first professional action for Beachy since he tossed one lone inning with the Dodgers’ Rookie-level affiliate in 2016. Once a rising star with the Braves earlier this decade, Beachy’s promising career was derailed by a pair of Tommy John surgeries. While Beachy has been out of the news almost entirely for more than two years — the last time he was even mentioned on MLBTR came back in 2016 when the Dodgers outrighted him off the 40-man roster — it appears as though he’ll work the indy circuit late in the season in an effort to generate some interest in a minor league deal this winter (or perhaps a late look in September).

Beachy, perhaps surprisingly, is still just 31 years of age, though he’ll turn 32 early next month. It’s been more than a half decade since he looked like a long-term cog for the Braves’ rotation, but he was certainly impressive in his brief peak. From 2010-13, Beachy totaled 267 2/3 innings of 3.23 ERA ball for Atlanta, averaging 9.2 K/9 against 2.9 BB/9 along the way. A return to the big leagues would seem like a long shot at this juncture, though there have certainly been more improbable success stories in recent years (e.g. Rich Hill, Jonny Venters).

With the Bees, Beachy will step onto the roster in place of 39-year-old Andy Van Hekken, who pitched for the Tigers back in 2002 and spent several seasons in Triple-A before carving out a successful six-year career with the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization. Van Hekken is headed to Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions, per Mike Ashmore of MyCentralJersey.com (Twitter link).

Dodgers Outright Brandon Beachy

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The Dodgers announced today that they have outrighted Brandon Beachy off the 40-man roster. In announcing the move, the Dodgers noted that the right-hander “is still set to appear in big league camp,” so it seems that he’ll look to crack the 25-man roster once Spring Training gets underway. That’s notable, as Beachy could have rejected the outright assignment in favor of free agency (as is his right as a player with more than three years of Major League service time), though doing so would have meant forfeiting the $1.5MM he was guaranteed on the one-year contract he signed just three weeks ago.

The move is somewhat strange, as Los Angeles is effectively guaranteeing $1.5MM to a minor league signee, although if any team in the league is capable of that type of financial maneuvering, it’s the Dodgers. It’s unclear precisely how Beachy would fit into the Dodgers’ rotation picture, as it’s become rather crowded this offseason despite the departure of Zack Greinke. Clayton Kershaw will, of course, return atop the rotation, and he’ll be followed by lefties Scott Kazmir and Brett Anderson as well as right-handed newcomer Kenta Maeda. Beyond that quartet, the Dodgers have Alex Wood as an option for the fifth spot, with injured hurlers like Hyun-jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy on the mend. Right-hander Mike Bolsinger, who made 21 starts with a 3.62 ERA for the Dodgers last season, remains in the picture as well.

Certainly, Beachy could compete for a bullpen spot as well, though the Dodgers have no shortage of options in that capacity, either. Kenley Jansen will anchor the back of the bullpen, and the list of right-handed relief options behind him includes Chris Hatcher, Yimi Garcia, Carlos Frias, Pedro Baez, Josh Ravin and the recently signed Joe Blanton. Lefties J.P. Howell and Luis Avilan should be locks for bullpen spots, and fellow southpaws Adam Liberatore and Ian Thomas are in the mix as well.

With the removal of Beachy, the Dodgers’ 40-man roster now stands at 39 players.

Dodgers Re-Sign Brandon Beachy

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The Dodgers have officially struck a deal with free agent righty Brandon Beachy, as first reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The ICON Sports Management client will receive a $1.5MM guarantee, per the report, and can reach $4.25MM through incentives.

Beachy, 29, reached the majors only briefly last year with Los Angeles as he worked back from consecutive Tommy John surgeries. In his 48 2/3 Triple-A frames, which included ten starts, Beachy worked to a 3.51 ERA with 6.8 K/9 against 4.1 BB/9.

Before that, of course, Beachy had looked like a solid young rotation piece with the Braves. Over the 2010 through 2013 campaigns, he worked to a 3.23 ERA with 9.2 K.9 against 2.9 BB/9 across 267 2/3 innings in that span.

While the Dodgers did not receive a significant major league contribution from Beachy last year, the club obviously saw enough to motivate a return. And given that he was able to achieve a major league deal despite a less-than-complete comeback, it appears that some other clubs also saw some room to expect bigger things in 2016.

Jon Heyman (Twitter links) and SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter link) provided details of the incentives clause.

Starting Pitching Notes: Miller, Leake, Dodgers

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Braves president of baseball operations John Hart says that the club is “absolutely not in the mode” of shopping pitcher Shelby Miller, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).  For his part, O’Brien (on Twitter) has a feeling that the Braves have not given up on getting infielder Javier Baez or outfielder Jorge Soler from the Cubs in exchange for Miller.  On top of that, a few teams have also reached out with interest in Braves hurler Julio Teheran, as Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes.

Here’s more out of Nashville:

  • The D’Backs, Dodgers, and Red Sox are staying in touch with the Braves regarding Miller, as Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.
  • A person familiar with Mike Leake’s talks thinks he could land a five-year deal for $75-80MM, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com tweets.  To some, that would appear to mark a spike in his market value, though MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes predicted that Leake could net a five-year, $80MM deal way back in early November.
  • Agent Rob Martin told MLBTR (Twitter link) that pitcher Brandon Beachy is “100% healthy” as he seeks his next deal in free agency.  Beachy will be prioritizing the best pitching opportunities without any real preference for geographic location.   Beachy was designated for assignment by the Dodgers in July before accepting an outright assignment in August.  From 2010-13 with Atlanta, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 9.2 K.9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 267 2/3 innings. Durability has been an issue since reaching the Major Leagues, however, as he’s topped 100 innings just once in his career and made 10 starts in a season just twice.
  • Chris Young turned down the opportunity to sign a three-year deal elsewhere to return to the Royals on a two-year pact, according to Andy McCullough of The Kansas City Star (on Twitter).
  • There are five teams in on Justin Masterson, including the Pirates, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).
  • As many as a dozen teams are already showing interest in Henderson Alvarez, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation tweets.
  • The Tigers and Cardinals both tried to land Jeff Samardzija, according to Heyman (on Twitter).  The Tigers, predictably, were out on Shark once they inked Jordan Zimmermann.

Brandon Beachy Clears Waivers, Accepts Outright Assignment

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Dodgers right-hander Brandon Beachy has cleared outright waivers after being designated for assignment last week, reports SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter).

Beachy, who turns 29 in one month, signed a one-year, $2.75MM contract with the Dodgers this winter after being non-tendered by the Braves on the heels of his second Tommy John surgery. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day disabled list, but he did reach the point last month where the Dodgers felt he could join the big league rotation. After pitching to a 3.28 ERA in six rehab starts, Beachy made a pair of starts with the Dodgers, allowing seven runs in eight total innings.

Beachy will have the option to reject an assignment to the minor leagues in favor of free agency, but as a player with fewer than five years of Major League service time, he would have to forfeit the remaining $947K on his contract to do so. His deal comes with a $3MM team option that jumped to $3.5MM upon making his first start of the season and will jump another $500K upon making five and 10 total starts. A $250K buyout would be added if he were to reach 10 total innings on the season. (Contract details via Cot’s Contracts.)

Because of that, it seems rather unlikely that Beachy would test the free agent waters at this juncture, though the Dodgers’ additions of both Mat Latos and Alex Wood have obstructed his path to another look in the big league rotation for the time being. Beachy, of course, has an excellent track record in the Majors when healthy. From 2010-13 with Atlanta, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 9.2 K.9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 267 2/3 innings. Durability has been an issue since reaching the Major Leagues, however, as he’s topped 100 innings just once in his career and made 10 starts in a season just twice.

Dodgers Designate Morse, Beachy, Heisey, Tsao For Assignment

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The Dodgers announced that they’ve designated four players — Mike Morse, Brandon Beachy, Chris Heisey and Chin-hui Tsao — for assignment in order to clear 40-man roster spot for Alex Wood, Mat Latos, Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson and Jose Peraza. A fifth 40-man roster spot was freed up by placing Chris Hatcher on the 60-day DL. Peraza was optioned to Triple-A, and Bronson Arroyo, also acquired in today’s 13-player trade, was placed on the 60-day DL.

It’s rare — if not unprecedented — to see this large a roster departure in one fell swoop. But most of the pieces figure to have little problem clearing waivers. Morse’s sizable contract makes that an easy expectation, though Los Angeles could look to park him in the American League while saving some cash through a trade. Beachy, too, is owed enough ($2.75MM annual salary) that he’s likely to clear, though it’s unclear what Los Angeles will look to do with him. And the 34-year-old Tsao has struggled badly in his first action in the big leagues since 2007.

Heisey, though, could draw some interest. If nothing else, a team like the Brewers or Reds — both of whom could end up parting with multiple big league outfielders — might like the idea of plugging him into their outfield mix the rest of the way (and, possibly, for 2016). He is owed a fairly reasonable $2.16MM this year and can be controlled through arbitration next season — where he likely won’t command much of a raise after seeing scant time in the majors. The 30-year-old Heisey is capable of playing center and has a lifetime .246/.300/417 slash with a solid defensive reputation, making him a reasonably useful player.

Quick Hits: Angels, Beachy, Cardinals

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Angels interim GM Bill Stoneman didn’t make many big midseason deals as the team’s GM from 1999 through 2007, but he’s open to making moves this month, Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes. “It doesn’t matter if it’s July or January, if it helps you, you do it,” says Stoneman. “If it’s not going to help you, you don’t do it just because people are hoping you do something.” It probably isn’t surprising that Stoneman’s comments sound a bit broad — not only do GMs tend to be circumspect this time of year, but Stoneman will be sharing duties with assistant GM Matt Klentak since he’s so new to the job. Here’s more from throughout the big leagues.

  • Brandon Beachy will make his 2015 debut as the Dodgers’ starter on Saturday, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports notes (on Twitter). It will be Beachy’s first start since August 2013 with the Braves. He’s had Tommy John surgery twice since 2012. The Dodgers signed Beachy to a one-year, $2.75MM deal last offseason knowing he would miss the start of the season. The deal also includes a 2016 option for a base of $3MM, a total that will increase by $500K when Beachy takes the mound tomorrow. The value of the option will increase another $500K with Beachy’s fifth, tenth, 15th, 18th and 21st starts. Too much of the season has gone by for Beachy to start 18 or 21 games, unless the Dodgers do something highly unusual with their rotation. He could, however, make 15 starts, which would increase the value of the option to a total of $5MM. Also, he’ll get a $250K buyout tied to the option when he completes ten innings of work this year.
  • Texas US Senator John Cornyn asked the Department of Justice about the Cardinals’ hacking scandal in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle writes. “I hope that FBI and DOJ will take the ongoing investigation into any criminal activity seriously and ensure that any wrongdoing is fully investigated and prosecuted,” Cornyn said, according to a press release from his office. The Cardinals have already fired scouting director Chris Correa in the wake of the scandal, and the FBI continues to investigate. A Cardinals employee or employees reportedly accessed the Astros’ data system repeatedly and without their consent.

NL Notes: Jennings, Fernandez, Gee, Lynn, Moscot, Beachy

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Dan Jennings is likely to remain in the dugout for the Marlins next year, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. That is far from a sure thing, per the report, but the club is preliminarily sketching out a 2016 that includes Jennings as the manager. The club is showing signs of gelling under Jennings, says Frisaro, and Miami still is holding out hope of getting back into the mix.

  • One key component of a Marlins turnaround would be the successful return of young righty Jose Fernandez, who announced yesterday that he hopes to return to start on July 2. Fernandez has, of course, been out since early 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
  • Mets GM Sandy Alderson said yesterday that he had just one “serious conversation” about an offseason Dillon Gee deal, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com reports on Twitter. Presumably, he is having more now, as Gee remains in DFA limbo. While Gee has struggled this year, he should have appeal to teams looking for some back-of-the-rotation options. A deal would allow New York to save some money on the $5.3MM owed Gee this year; he’ll also come with one more season of control via arbitration.
  • The Cardinals have received good news on righty Lance Lynn, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch reports. Lynn is back throwing after hitting the DL with forearm tightness, and St. Louis hopes that he can come back after missing just two starts.
  • A quick return may not be in the cards for Reds righty Jon Moscot, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder yesterday in a freak accident, as John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The 23-year-old rookie was making his third start for Cincinnati, which has been beset by injuries of late.
  • Brandon Beachy is set to begin a rehab assignment for the Dodgers, with the club’s Rancho Cucamonga affiliate announcing that he’ll make his first appearance tonight. The 28-year-old righty has not appeared in the big leagues since 2013, undergoing successive Tommy John procedures in the interim. His ability to return to provide innings for Los Angeles could play a role in the team’s summer trade plans.
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