While Jazz Chisholm has been everything the Yankees have hoped for and more at third base, their inability to land a quality reliever has reared its ugly head. Mark Leiter Jr. was expected to be an impact pitcher but that hasn’t been the case, and Enyel De Los Santos found himself quickly designated for assignment. Rehabbing reinforcement Scott Effross found himself demoted swiftly as well after just two outings and it doesn’t look promising for Lou Trivino in Triple-A right now, as the right-hander’s velocity is down roughly 1-2 MPH on his primary pitches.
Instead, we could see Clayton Beeter join the Yankees’ bullpen soon, as he’s rehabbing in Double-A with the Somerset Patriots as a reliever. With an uptick in velocity, the right-hander could push for a spot on their roster down the stretch.
Clayton Beeter Might Be Exactly What the Yankees Need
The Yankees need some swing-and-miss, and the right-hander brings plenty of that to the table as he has an excellent two-pitch combination that would work well in a bullpen role. His slider is one of the best in the organization, as it generates a ton of vertical drop without moving much horizontally, which makes it hard for hitters to square up the ball, and it’s made even more deceptive with his high release point and funky delivery that sees him tilt his trunk upward before releasing the ball.
It creates a sharper angle on his vertical drop, which is why it has a Whiff Rate nearing 50% this season. His best weapon on the mound, it’s going to be even better in a reliever role where he can dial up his velocity and create an even firmer movement that batters can’t pick up. In Triple-A he ranked in the 87th Percentile in Swinging Strike Rate (16%) and had a 2.53 ERA in the International League, where the average ERA this season is 5.15. The pitch that sets up his slider is his riding fastball, which has become a real weapon as he throws it harder and with more vertical movement than before.
Last season his fastball sat around 93.4 MPH with 16.7 inches of vertical movement but this past Spring Training we saw him sit at 94.6 MPH with 17.2 inches of ride. While his velocity took a hit in Triple-A (likely due to his shoulder), that’s a noticeable uptick in stuff. Now working out of the bullpen in Double-A, he exceeded 96 MPH on the radar gun with one of his heaters in a two-inning performance that saw Beeter strike out three batters and not allow a single baserunner.
He also made a tweak to his mechanics that may allow him to more consistently locate while throwing his best stuff.
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He’s coming out of the set instead of the windup even with no one on, and this could be a way for him to more consistently deliver strikes as it simplifies his motion even further. In two outings out of the bullpen, Beeter has a 50% strikeout rate with no walks and one hit allowed, but the Yankees will need to get him reps before the postseason if they want to truly feel comfortable with him in October.
It’s rare (although not unprecedented) for rookies to get most of their Major League work in the postseason, but with arms like Tim Mayza and Mark Leiter Jr. looking unfit for postseason spots, they may not have a choice. Clayton Beeter rocked a strikeout rate above 32% in Triple-A this season, a number that appeals to this bullpen given their lack of overpowering arms, and as a starter who is built up to at least give you two innings in an appearance, he could be a bulk guy as well.
Some of the biggest issues in Clayton Beeter’s game are his command and lack of a third pitch, but those two things are not as prominent out of the bullpen. You don’t need more than two pitches to be a quality reliever, and it’s not like he suffers from ugly splits against either lefties or righties. While he’s better against same-handed foes, left-handed batters posted just a .275 wOBA against him this season, which is a paltry rate especially when you factor in how run-heavy the International League is.
He’s able to attack the top of the zone with heaters to set up a slider in the dirt for a chase, and we can expect these two pitches to play up in a bullpen role. He was sitting around the 94-96 MPH range last night for the Somerset Patriots, and that’s the kind of velocity that would take his fastball from a middling offering to one that can pick up whiffs and give the Yankees a much-needed power arm. It would profile similarly in release height and vertical movement to someone like Chad Green, who was one of the best relievers the Yankees have had over the last decade.
It boils down to whether he’s throwing as hard as he’s been capable of in shorter spurts or not, because if the stuff holds then Clayton Beeter could become a big-time weapon for the Yankees’ bullpen.