Red Sox Prospect Jalen Beeks Could Be The Next Pitching Prospect Out Of Red Sox System
Jalen Beeks made his 4th start at the AAA level on Tuesday night against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Tonight, he went 6 1/3 innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, and 9 strikeouts on 105 pitches (63 strikes). His ERA at the AAA Pawtucket is now 3.60. The Paw Sox went on to drop this one 7-0 to Lehigh Valley.
2 of those runs came in the 5th inning after he allowed 2 runners to reach base. Then with 2 outs, Pedro Florimon hit a fly ball to left field that Brian Bogusevic had to run very far to have a chance to catch. Bogusevic had a chance to catch it, but it hit off of his glove as he slid to catch it. Both runners ended up scoring on that play.
The other run came in the 7th after Beeks was taken out of the game. After a lead off single to Hector Gomez, Beeks struck out Angelo Mora. That is when Beeks was lifted from the game for Jamie Callahan. Later in the inning, J.P. Crawford hit a single up the middle that drove in Gomez. That officially ended the night for Beeks.
Jalen Beeks Impresses On Tuesday
This is the second time Beeks has pitched at McCoy Stadium. In his first start on June 9th against the Buffalo Bisons, Beeks impressed by only giving up 1 earned run in 6 innings. Tonight he showed us why he could possible be the next top pitching prospect out of the Red Sox organization.
“He buries his holds. He maintains his stuff from the stretch. [Beeks] does a lot of things well, and he’s got a really good pitch-ability. He’s not afraid to pitch inside either.” said manager Kevin Boles regarding Jalen Beeks
From what I saw tonight from Beeks is exactly what manger Kevin Boles said. He isn’t going to over power you with his fastball as it sits in the low 90’s. But he holds the ball making it difficult for the hitter to see. He isn’t afraid to throw the ball up in the zone either. Tonight, he was able to get a ton of swing and misses on his up in the zone.
Beeks was able to get swing and misses on a consistent bases with all of his pitches. He could work both sides of the plates, in any count, to keep hitters off balance. The most impressive part of his 9 strikeouts tonight was that 7 of them came on sing and misses. These strikeouts have been coming often at AAA. In 25 innings, he has 24. However, in 2 of his starts he has had 4 or less. Both of those games on the road.
What Jalen Beeks Could Be
If a pitcher is able to pitch on the inside part of the plate, they will succeed. There is no if’s, and’s, or but’s about it. Jalen Beeks is able to do that. Some of the best pitchers in the game are able to do that. If Jalen Beeks is able to get more speed on his pitches, it should be able to get him to get more swings and misses outside the zone. Right now, he pitches around the zone to get a lot of his swing and misses.
It is going to be very difficult for him to get to that point because he did have an elbow problem during his time in college. But if he is able to overcome that, he could be a dominate starter in the major leagues.
It’ll be interesting to see how Beeks pitches his next time out when the Paw Sox play in Scranton this weekend. Will he be able to have a big strikeout game. So far, he hasn’t been able to do it in consecutive starts.
