At the beginning of the week Freddie Freeman and Kenley Jansen had the opportunity to play against their former team, and now Matt Beaty is getting a chance to do the same during series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
Beaty, who was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2015 MLB Draft, was designated for assignment last month as the corresponding 40-man roster move to make room for the signing of Hanser Alberto.
Beaty then was traded to the Padres in exchange for Minor League infielder River Ryan.
Now set to face the Dodgers for the first time, Beaty is tapping into his experience with the team so as not to make more of the series than necessary, according to Bryce Miller the The San Diego Union-Tribune:
“You try to find a way to loosen up, slow your heartbeat, slow your breathing down and just play baseball,” said Beaty, of the three-game series with his former team that begins Friday at Petco Park. “I kind of learned over there not to have too much emphasis on one series.
“Yes, Padres-Dodgers was huge for us. Giants-Dodgers was huge for us. When the Yankees came to town, that was a huge series. But it wasn’t, we have to beat these guys. Just go out and play.”
Similar to emotions Freeman and Jansen expressed, Beaty acknowledged it will be an odd feeling playing against former teammates:
“That will be weird, coming up to the plate and Smitty’s there,” Beaty said. “We golf a lot in the offseason. I’m sure I’ll joke with him to throw me some fastballs, to lighten the mood. But when you’re between the lines, you’re kind of enemies.”
Beaty has appeared in just five games (three starts) for the Padres thus far, and is 2-for-14 with five strikeouts.
Why did Dodgers trade Matt Beaty?
With a universal designated hitter in place, the number of at-bats Beaty figured to receive with L.A. moving forward was likely going to diminish. When a DH was in place for the 2020 season, Beaty appeared in just 20 games.
Of those, 10 entailed playing first base, five were as a DH, three were pinch-hit appearances, and Beaty played two games in left field.
Beaty did appear in 120 games last season, but also was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City and regularly passed over when it came to setting the lineup despite the likes of DJ Peters, Luke Raley and Billy McKinney struggling at the plate.
Beaty does have one Minor League option remaining, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the organization wanted to give him an opportunity to play elsewhere rather than have the 28-year-old spend more time in Oklahoma City.
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