Rookies to start against each other in Giants-Padres game (Apr 15, 2018)
SAN DIEGO -- Two rookie pitchers not officially a member of their respective Opening Day rotations will pair off Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi, who moved into the Padres rotation when Dinelson Lamet injured the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during his final start of spring training, made his major league debut in the season's second game and is off to a 1-0 start with a 1.72 ERA after three outings.
Right-hander Tyler Beede made his major league debut Tuesday for the Giants.
Both are 24-year-old former high draft picks of their teams.
Beede was San Francisco's first-round pick (14th overall) in the 2014 draft out of Vanderbilt University. Lucchesi was the Padres' fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Southeast Missouri State.
Before the season, Beede was ranked the No. 4 prospect in the Giants farm system by the MLB Pipeline. Lucchesi was ranked the No. 9 prospect in the Padres system.
Lucchesi advanced quickly through the Padres system while Beede made every stop but one while climbing the ladder.
Lucchesi split the 2017 season between Advanced Single-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio and was scheduled to start the 2018 season with Triple-A El Paso before he received the last-minute promotion straight to the majors.
He was the Padres Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2017, going a combined 11-7 with a 2.20 ERA between his two stops with a combined .200 batting average against. He had 148 strikeouts (against 33 walks) in 139 innings.
"We expected him to be in the major leagues sometime this season," Padres manager Andy Green said shortly after Lucchesi was promoted to make the season's season start. "It's just a little sooner than expected, although he's surely prepared for it. He had solid spring and was one of our last and toughest decisions.
Over his two most recent appearances, Lucchesi gave up two unearned runs and five hits and four walks with 15 strikeouts in 11 innings. In his first start at Coors Field in Denver, Lucchesi allowed one hit and three walks with seven strikeouts over five scoreless innings.
"He deserves to be here," Green.
Meanwhile, Beede was scheduled to open the 2018 season with at least one start in Triple A while the Giants were awaiting the need for a fifth starter, but instead pitched one-hit ball over five innings for Class-A San Jose due to inclement weather facing Triple-A Sacramento in the Pacific Northwest.
He pitched four innings, allowing two runs on three hits and five walks in his major league debut Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.
"I think there is a lot I can break down from that start-- lot of things I can work on moving forward," Beede said of his major league debut. "I was not my sharpest, not my most efficient, but limited them to two runs over four (innings). But a lot to work on, for sure."
"I'm sure he was pretty hyped up, maybe a little nervous, but he battled," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He worked hard, threw a lot of pitches, but he did keep the game close to give us a chance. Two runs there, and it could have gotten away from us."
