2011 MLB Draft: Toronto Blue Jays select Tyler Beede, RHP, Lawrence Academy HS

Well, after months of hard work from Alex Anthopoulos' scouting department, the Toronto Blue Jays were finally given the chance to make their first five picks of the 2011 MLB Draft (Day 2 of the draft continues tomorrow at 12 ET. where rounds 2-30 will be conducted) Suprisingly, all five picks of the day were used to take nothing but prep players. So as I talked about yesterday, Anthopoulos continues drafting players that contain high upside and hopefully are going to project well at the next level. So let's take an in-depth look at the 21st overall pick, Tyler Beede out of Lawrence Academy High School in Massachusetts.

Here's what the Perfect Game Scouting Service had to say about Tyler Beede:

• "He has a low effort delivery with good lower half use and repeats his mechanics consistently. Beede’s fastball doesn’t touch 97-98 mph like many of top high school arms seem to be doing this year but he’s a consistent 92-93 mph and will touch 94-95 occasionally. His upper 70’s curveball is a potential plus second pitch and his change up shows signs of being a plus pitch at times as well, although he understandably hasn’t used the pitch frequently. Beede’s ability to mix his pitches and throw to spots is very advanced for a high school pitcher and will enable him to be immediately successful at the next level, whether that is at Vanderbilt or in professional ball. Even though he could sneak into the back of the first round on talent, Beede is well prepared to pass on pro ball for at least three years. He transferred before his senior year from his hometown Auburn High School to Lawrence Academy, a prestigious prep school, to better prepare himself academically for Vanderbilt and is a high level student."

Beede seems like your prototypical RHP out of high-school with a strong, projectable body featuring a plus fastball, curveball and a changeup with good movement. Beede, who is from a small town in Massachusetts which isn't particularly known for producing baseball players, hasn't needed to use his secondary pitches to the extent most high-school arms in the 2011 MLB Draft have had to considering the level of competition he has played and how good his fastball actually is. Some scouts suggest that Beede needs to work on his secondary pitches (like his curveball and changeup) to make the necessary steps to be successful at the next level.

Many journalists and scouts were suprised to see Beede drafted as early as #21 considering the risks involved in drafting him. For one, Beede will be a very tough sign considering what he calls a "strong" committment to attend the University of Vanderbilt in the fall (who happened to beat Belmont yesterday to lock up their spot in a super regional). Beede and his family even sent out a letter to Major League Baseball (similar to Josh Bell) reaffirming his committment to the Commodores. From early reports, Beede (who can be found on twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/youngbeedah) will be looking for atleast top ten slot money (which is probably in the range of a 3 million dollars signing bonus) so it will be tough for Anthopoulos and his staff to sway him the young RHP from his committment to Vanderbilt. Secondly, Beede recently turned 18 years old (14 days ago) and looks to be very raw (especially compared to other high school arms like Daniel Norris and Taylor Guerrieri, two guys I would have taken over Beede) and may think he needs the three years of collegiate baseball to mature and develop into his body. So it should be interesting to see how the negotiating process goes between Anthopoulos' staff and Beede.

For anyone interested, here's a video as recently as last week of Tyler Beede pitching in a game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAEuKfUMozs