Tyler Beede bringing bullpen mentality in transition back to starting role for Pirates

After spending the majority of the season in the bullpen, Tyler Beede had a one-word answer when asked how he was being built up by the Pittsburgh Pirates to start games again.

“Slowly,” Beede said, with a grin.

The 29-year-old right-hander has twice served as an opener this month and is on track to make his third start when the Pirates visit Beede’s former team, the San Francisco Giants, on Saturday at Oracle Park. The Pirates have yet to announce their starting pitcher to face righty Logan Webb (10-5, 3.17 ERA), but manager Derek Shelton indicated it could be Beede.

After making 17 multi-inning appearances this season, Beede increased his pitch count to a season-high 57 over 3 2/3 scoreless innings Monday in a 3-0 loss at the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed only a walk through the first three innings before giving up a single and a double in the fourth, when he was pulled with two outs and a runner on second.

Beede is bringing a reliever’s mindset to making starts.

“Just keeping the bullpen mentality that I’ve had, a one-inning approach at a time,” Beede said Monday on AT&T SportsNet’s postgame show. “Not trying to count outs or go a certain length but just keeping an attack mentality. That’s what I’ve learned coming out of the ’pen and transitioning that into whatever it was, an opening/starting thing.”

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A two-time first-round draft pick, Beede has starter pedigree. He was selected 21st overall by the Toronto Blue Jays out of Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., in 2011, but opted to attend Vanderbilt. He was selected 14th overall by the Giants in 2014 and went 5-10 with a 5.08 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 117 innings over 22 starts in 2019.

After his promising career was sidetracked by Tommy John surgery in March 2020, Beede fared well in the bullpen since being claimed off waivers by the Pirates in mid-May. He had a 2.64 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 11 walks while holding opponents to a .208 batting average in 30 2/3 innings over 17 appearances.

His debut as an opener, however, was disastrous. Beede gave up four runs on five hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 3 at PNC Park, a game the Pirates rallied to win on a Bryan Reynolds walk-off home run.

But after the Pirates dealt lefty Jose Quintana to the St. Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline, Shelton didn’t have many options. So he started Beede again on Monday and got better results.

“His tempo was way better,” Shelton said. “The last time out, it looked like he was a little rushed. I don’t know if it was because it was the first time he’d started in awhile. But he looked like he rushed through his delivery a little bit. (On Monday), he looked more like how he’s pitched out of the bullpen and just being extremely efficient.”

Where Beede previously relied on his 96-mph four-seam fastball, throwing it on 63% of his pitches when he joined the Pirates, he threw his curveball on 20 pitches (35%) and sinker 14 times (25%) against the Diamondbacks on Monday. More importantly, he kept the Pirates in the game while Arizona starter Zac Gallen tossed seven scoreless innings.

“Just wanted to go out there and be as efficient as possible, take it one inning at a time and try to help the bullpen as much as possible,” Beede said. “That’s your job as a starter, really as any pitcher, to put your team in position to win. Any time you can go out and set a tone and put up zeroes … your job is to go out there and keep your team in a close spot to take a lead.”