Matt Beaty

Beaty maintained a consistent - yet limited -- role with the Dodgers and now has 268 and 234 plate appearances respectively his in two full major-league seasons. Of the 234 plate appearances Beaty picked up in 2021, 116 came at the corner outfield spots, 59 as a pinch hitter and 53 at first base. He has shown a strong contact profile (16.4 career K%) across 556 career plate appearances, though there's little to no power upside in Beaty's profile. He has hit 1.36 groundballs to every flyball and has an equally uninspiring 4.4 percent barrel rate. Adding a bit of a wrinkle to Beaty's profile is the fact that he figures to be heavily affected by the terms of the new CBA. The Dodgers aren't likely to devote full-time plate appearances to him given his lack of standout skills, even if a universal DH were instituted. More likely, he'd lose out on some of his plate appearances as a pinch hitter, further limiting his playing time.

Beaty benefited from the expanded roster; he was competing with Edwin Rios for a utility role and the extra spots cleared room for both. However, with Max Muncy avoiding injury and Rios serving as Justin Turner's backup at third base, Beaty played sparingly until he was sent to the alternate site, where he stayed the rest of the regular season. The sophomore's average exit velocity and hard-hit rate were comparable to his rookie season, but he fanned more than twice as much while walking almost half as much. The erosion of plate skills resulted in a 76 wRC+, 26 points lower than 2019. Beaty's playing time in 2021 is unclear as Rios is in line to play a lot more. Beaty will remain a corner-infield reserve with a good chance to rebound since last year's K% and BB% were out of whack with career levels. First-base-only eligibility to open 2021 isn't ideal, but Beaty is in play as an endgame pick in NL-only formats.

Beaty emerged from relative obscurity to play in 99 games for a 106-win Dodger club; he was the Texas League MVP in 2017, but Beaty was not a top prospect on anyone's list heading into 2019. Called up initially to replace A.J. Pollock on the roster, Beaty went on to total 268 plate appearances and was even a little better than league average with the bat. Never a big walker, Beaty displayed strong bat-to-ball skills in the minors with K-rates in the low-teens, and that skill carried over to the highest level. On account of his consistent, quality contact, Statcast says Beaty deserved to hit .280 in his debut season. Unfortunately, he was a negative on defense between mostly left field and first base, so there will be a lot of pressure on his bat at all times. As the roster stands now, Beaty projects to be a backup or perhaps Triple-A depth to start the 2020 season.