2024 MLB Draft Profile: Drew Beam
Draft Profile: Drew Beam (Tennessee)
Height: 6'4
Weight: 200
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Drew Beam, one of college baseball’s most consistent pitchers the past two seasons. Beam established himself with an outstanding freshman season at Tennessee and has first-round interest from MLB teams for the 2024 Draft. In his first two seasons at Tennessee, he has posted a 3.20 ERA, 150 strikeouts, and a 1.14 WHIP in 160 1/3 innings pitched over that stretch.
Beam features an astounding five-pitch mix, but primarily throws a fastball, curveball, and changeup as his three strongest pitches.
His fastball plays into the mid 90s, reaching as high as 97 miles per hour. The fastball has evident late life and ride that generate powerful back-spin to run into hitters at the top of the zone. He also has the ability to throw the pitch with a sink toward the bottom of the zone depending on the situation. Beam’s tangible ability to pitch his fastball with control in the top and bottom of the zone helps him set up hitters to attack him with his secondary pitches when he gets ahead in counts.
Beam’s changeup projects to be a plus pitch, with a 35% whiff rate so far in his college career. He uses the arm-side action to move away from left-handed hitters and to run in on the hands of right-handed hitters. Some evaluators feel his curveball is his second-best pitch, though I think his changeup has the deception and layering to punch out hitters and is the pitch he should lean into more.
His changeup does have moments where it doesn’t quite have the arm-side movement it should, with a velocity in the high 80s or low 90s that may allow it to get hit if it does not have the desired sinking action and deception. In my opinion, I still think it is his most effective pitch besides his fastball.
Beam’s curveball also projects to be a plus pitch with a whiff rate of 37%. When it is mechanically sound, it is an off-speed pitch that can help him expand the zone and attack hitters in various capacities. It has a vertical and horizontal movement profile that allows the pitch to move across both planes, making it a difficult pitch to hit with its movement if thrown properly.
Beam’s curveball is more inconsistent than his other two main pitches. His delivery can be inconsistent at times and can have inconsistencies in the release point and grip of the pitch, which can lead to the pitch being flat and not having the depth or horizontal movement he would like, leaving it to hang in the zone for hitters to connect on.
Overall, Beam has an impressive command of the strike zone for a pitcher in college. He has a feel for pitching that is impressive for a pitcher of his age. While he is not the type who will have a 13.0 K/9 rate and will induce more contact, he does understand how to pitch in multiple situations and can pitch into generating contact outs, or in swing-and-miss situations. Beam will be Tennessee’s Friday starter this year with a chance to solidify himself as a first-round pick. If he can continue to develop his secondary pitches such as slider and curveball, it will make his profile very intriguing for a starting pitcher at the major league level.
