Cal notes: Giants' Beede happy with sinker

Twelve months ago, Tyler Beede was just a Friday night pitcher wrapping up the regular season for the Vanderbilt Commodores.

A lot has happened since then. He won a College World Series title, he heard his name called as a first-round Draft pick (again), and he developed a new pitch that's changed the way he approaches hitters. Now Beede, San Francisco's No. 3 prospect, finds himself leading a talented San Jose rotation in the Class A Advanced California League.

San Francisco selected Beede with the No. 14 overall pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft, three years after the Toronto Blue Jays picked him at No. 21, when he elected instead to go to college. Beede developed a sinker in the instructional league last year and turned it into his dominant pitch while working out in Spring Training.

"I'm leading guys off with it, throwing it when I'm behind," Beede said. "Definitely just trying to induce groundballs. It's a good change in mind-set and allows me to go deeper into games."

Beede said the pitch sits at about 92-94 mph, and that he emulates San Francisco right-handers such as Tim Hudson and Chris Heston. The 21-year-old said he studies their pitch sequences to see how they use their sinking fastballs, while noting it puts less stress on his arm.

"Less is more when it comes to that pitch," Beede said, "just kind of allowing the movement to take care of itself."

Beede was charged with a loss against Lake Elsinore on Monday after a tough sixth inning that resulted in four earned runs. In five starts, he has a 2.63 ERA and 15-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 1/3 innings. He also sports a 3.06 groundball-to-fly ball ratio.

Beede is one of 11 top 30 Giants prospects on the San Jose roster, but the talent hasn't been reflected in the team's record -- the Giants are 8-18 on the year.

"You see the talent -- it's just a matter of piecing it together," Beede said. "I'm very blessed that I'm having a great opportunity with a great organization -- definitely happy with where I'm at."

Beede has become good friends with fellow Vanderbilt baseball alum and Oakland A's ace Sonny Gray, saying he takes pride in the program's rich pitching tradition while attributing much of his success to Vanderbilt coaches such as Tim Corbin, Derek Johnson and Scott Brown.

"You go to a school that's had a lot of pitching success and you want to continue that," said Beede, pointing to Detroit's David Price as another example of the program's prowess on the mound. "A lot of the reason why we're having success at the pro level as pitchers is because of what we learned at Vanderbilt."

In brief

14 and counting: Lancaster JetHawks second baseman Jose Fernandez extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff home run in Tuesday's 8-1 loss to Stockton. It marked just his second extra-base hit of the season -- he also had a solo shot April 23. The 21-year-old is batting .365/.446/.460 this year, his first at the Class A Advanced level.

Lights out: Lake Elsinore closer Eric Yardley has been nearly untouchable to start the season. He's a perfect 6-for-6 in save opportunities, which leads the Cal League, and has struck out 13 batters while scattering six hits and an intentional walk in 10 innings of work.

Rickey in the house: Hall of Famer and Oakland A's roving instructor Rickey Henderson served as the Stockton Ports first base coach Monday night as outfielder Coco Crisp played in the second game of his Major League rehab stint. Crisp, who is recovering from right elbow surgery, is expected to return to the A's sometime this week.