San Francisco Giants Draft, Day 1
14. RHP Tyler Beede, Vanderbilt
In order to land the right-handed pitcher Beede the San Francisco Giants had to pass on a couple of outfield position players — a position of need for San Francisco — both of whom are from northern California. Here’s what Baseball America had to say about the 6’4″ pitcher from Vanderbilt.
"He has thrown more strikes this spring (3.3 BB/9) but has been more hittable, and scouts give him average control grades with below-average command. Nevertheless, Beede looks the part of a first-rounder at an athletic, powerful 6-foot-4, 215 pounds with a clean arm, and he flashes plus with three pitches. At times he pitches with a well above-average fastball, reaching 97 mph and sitting 92-94. His changeup has been his best secondary offering this spring, earning plus grades, and he throws one of the hardest curveballs in the draft at 80-81 mph, giving him a third plus pitch. Beede has a big personality and rap alter ego (Young Beedah) and was the life of Team USA’s clubhouse despite his struggles last summer."
The young Beede has had trouble with command as seen above and that includes 43 walks in 98 1/3 innings over the course of this past season. But, he does possess decent velocity and already several great pitches. He is also a guy that could fit into the clubhouse given he was the life of Team USA’s clubhouse.
Again, a tough call because there were bigger needs to fill. But it’s hard to go wrong with a pitcher, even with top prospect Kyle Crick doing very well, since the Giants are very good at developing pitching talent.
52. C Aramis Garcia, Florida International
In the second round of the draft the San Francisco Giants selected a catcher from Florida. Sound familiar? If Buster came to mind you’d be right, but after ‘catcher from Florida’ the comparisons diminish. There is a lot to like about him though. Here’s a snippet from MLB.com
"Garcia is a right-handed batter whose hitting, many talent evaluators believe, exceeds his defense. In 45 games, Garcia, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 220 pounds, hit .368 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs. He also recorded a .442 on-base percentage and a .626 slugging percentage."
His character is also a major plus and is regarded to have great leadership abilities from behind the plate. He even comes in the same vein as Posey in the fact that he has been great not just on the field, but in the classroom as well.
Ramirez is thought by scouts to be better offensively than defensively, but say that he has the potential to improve both and become an above-average fielder while possessing a decent power-bat. At the moment he is more of a line-drive hitter, but with added weight on his frame could be even better.