Yankees draft Stanford righty Brendan Beck in second round
Stanford starting pitcher Brendan Beck (20) throws against North Carolina State in the first inning in the opening baseball game of the College World Series, Saturday, June 19, 2021, at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. Credit: AP/Rebecca S. Gratz
The Yankees had no doubt been scouting Stanford righthander Brendan Beck for quite a while, so his most recent outing as a collegiate pitcher probably had no negative impact on their decision to draft him with the 55th overall pick in the second round of the MLB Draft on Monday.
On June 23 in the College World Series, Beck threw a game-ending wild pitch that gave Vanderbilt a 6-5 victory over Stanford. That was the 22-year-old’s final college appearance.
Beck was making a rare relief appearance. A starter in 15 of his 17 games this season, Beck went 9-3 with a 3.15 ERA with 143 strikeouts in 108 2/3 innings.
Ten days before the draft, MLB.com draft guru Jim Callis pegged Beck as the player whose stock had risen the most in his pre-draft rankings. Callis had Beck going from the 164th to the 99th top prospect as the draft drew closer.
"Beck had a solid year as Stanford’s Friday night starter, finishing the year with a 3.15 ERA, a .200 batting average against and an impressive 143/26 strikeout-to-walk ratio," Callis wrote. "His 13-K performance in Super Regional play certainly didn’t hurt his stock, and college performers with a plus feel for pitching always float up when teams consider risk in the draft."
At 6-2 and 205 pounds, Beck is not a flame-thrower; his fastball is in the 91-to-93 mile per hour range. But the Yankees must feel they can get that up a tick or two with their coaching and analytics.
After his selection was announced, Beck posted twice on Twitter.
"New York! Can’t wait to get going," he wrote, before adding: "Unreal! @Yankees let’s do it."
The selection of Beck kicked off a nine-round day (rounds 2 through 10) in which the Yankees picked eight college players and one high schooler.
The lone non-collegiate was their third-round pick, lefthander Brock Selvidge from Hamilton, Arizona, who was selected 92nd overall.
The 18-year-old Selvidge is rated as Arizona’s top prep prospect. He has committed to Louisiana State University, so the Yankees will have some negotiating to do if they are to sign him to a professional contract.
The rest of the Yankees’ picks from Day 2 of the three-day draft: Round 4, No. 122 overall, Cooper Bowman, 2B, University of Louisville; Round 5, No. 153: Tyler Hardman, 1B, University of Oklahoma; Round 6, No. 183: Richard Fitts, RHP, Auburn University; Round 7, No. 213: Robert Ahlstrom, LHP, University of Oregon; Round 8, No. 243: Will Warren, RHP, Southeastern Louisiana University; Round 9, No. 273: Chandler Champlain, RHP, University of Southern California; Round 10, No. 303: Benjamin Cowles, SS, University of Maryland.
The Yankees picked collegiate shortstop Trey Sweeney with the 20th overall pick in Sunday’s first round. The draft concludes on Tuesday with rounds 11-20.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
