Matt Beaty’s time with the Los Angeles Dodgers came to an end on Monday when he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Minor League infielder River Ryan.
The Dodgers selected Beaty in the 12th round of the 2015 MLB Draft and he had been with the club since, making his MLB debut in 2019 and winning a World Series in 2020.
Beaty became one of the Dodgers’ primary pinch-hitters, but he was limited defensively and with the inclusion of the universal designated hitter, it was unlikely he would find much playing time moving forward.
Now as a member of the Padres, Beaty has a chance to earn more playing time, but first he went to Instagram to thank the Dodgers and fans for making his time in the organization memorable.
Over parts of three seasons with the Dodgers, Beaty batted .262/.333/.425 with 18 home runs in 240 games.
Although the Dodgers manager Dave Roberts primarily viewed him as a bat off the bench to face right-handed pitchers, Beaty did see time at first base, third base, left field and right field.
As one of his most memorable moments with the team, Beaty started a historic weekend against the Colorado Rockies in 2019. With the score tied at two in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rockies reliever Jairo Diaz quickly retired the first two batters faced.
Max Muncy kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, paving the way for Beaty, who lined walk-off home run over the center field wall, propelling the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory.
Beaty’s walk-off home run was followed the next two games by game-winning homers from Alex Verdugo and Will Smith. It was the first time in MLB history that three different rookies hit walk-off home runs in consecutive games.
Dodgers rotation will include Andrew Heaney and Tony Gonsolin
With just a weeks worth of Spring Training games remaining, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is close to sorting out his rotation to open the season after an open competition for the final two spots.
The team signed Tyler Anderson and Andrew Heaney in the offseason, but it appears only one of them will start the season it the rotation, with Heaney and Tony Gonsolin getting the first chance behind Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Kershaw in some order.
Anderson is expected to fill a hybrid stater and multi-inning reliever role out of the bullpen.
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