Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Prospect Clayton Beeter Hurls Three Scoreless Innings

One of the Yankees' pitching prospects impressed on Thursday night.

Joe Najarian

Yankees Prospect Clayton Beeter Hurls Three Scoreless Innings
Yankees Prospect Clayton Beeter Hurls Three Scoreless Innings /
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The New York Yankees started one of their highly regarded pitching prospects against the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.

Clayton Beeter, who the Yankees acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Joey Gallo at the 2022 trade deadline, is currently ranked 14th on the team's top 30 prospects list. At age 25 and coming off a solid 2023 season between both Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Beeter is looking to make the major league roster for this coming season, as either a starter or a reliever.

Thursday's spring training game against the Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field was a prime opportunity for Beeter to prove he's major league ready, and he looked impressive. Despite having to get out of a pair of jams, the young right-hander pitched three shutout frames, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out four.

The first inning saw Beeter get out of two-out trouble. He began the game by getting Luis Arraez to ground out and striking out Tim Anderson on three pitches. The Marlins then attempted to rally as Jazz Chisholm Jr. doubled to left; after a walk to Nick Gordon, Chisholm stole third base to put runners at the corners. But Beeter stranded both runners by striking out Avasail Garcia on three pitches, getting him looking at a high slider.

Beeter would extinguish another Marlins rally in the second inning. After Jon Berti flew out, Dane Myers reached on an infield single, stole second, and advanced to third on Trey Mancini's single to put runners at the corners with one out. But once again, Beeter buckled down by retiring Nick Fortes on a pop fly before getting Arraez (who led the majors with a .354 batting average in 2023) to ground out to second and end the inning.

The third inning was Beeter's best, as he pitched a clean one-two-three frame. He struck out both Anderson and Chisholm in the process (Anderson looking and Chisholm swinging) before finishing his night by retiring Gordon on a ground ball to second.

Beeter threw 47 pitches in the three innings, with 33 fastballs, 11 sliders, and three changeups; 30 of his 47 pitches were for strikes. Despite getting just four swings and misses (all of them on fastballs), he managed to strike out four batters (two looking and two swinging) thanks to timely execution with two strikes; none of the five batters who fell into two-strike counts were able to reach base. Beeter additionally allowed just one "hard-hit" ball, which only had a 97 mph exit velocity; his own velocity topped out at 96 mph. 

With a strong, yet resilient performance, Beeter provided a good audition for the major leagues and should definitely get another opportunity to start this spring before the regular season begins. 

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Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian is a Rutgers University graduate from the Class of 2022. After an eight-month stint with Jersey Sporting News (JSN), covering Rutgers Football, Rutgers Basketball, and Rutgers Baseball, Najarian became a contributing writer on Inside the Pinstripes and Inside the Mets. He additionally writes on Giants Country, FanNation’s site for the New York Giants. Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeNajarian

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