Beck Way was the Yankees 4th round pick from their 2020 draft class, coming into the draft after two years of JUCO ball at two different colleges. He was one of the top JUCO pitchers in the draft, but understandably the JUCO level is a step below traditional NCAA ball. He looks destined to become a reliever, so I’m interested to see how he evolves with the Yankees.
(Talk and Information about Beck Way starts at 8:51)BECK WAY, RHP (#24):
Age/Date of Birth: 21 Years Old (08/06/1999)
Most Recent Team(s) (Level and Year): None Professionally
Most Recent Yearly Statistics (2019, Regular Season): None Profesisionally
Bats/Throws: Right/Right
Height/Weight: 6’4”/200 Pounds
Acquired: Drafted in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB First Year Player Draft by the New York Yankees with the 129th overall pick.
MLB ETA: 2023
BECK WAY SCOUTING GRADES (20-80 SCALE):
Fastball: 55
Slider: 50
Changeup: 55
Control: 45
Overall: 40
What to Know:
Undrafted out of High School, Beck Way took an untraditional route to getting drafted by attending Belmont Abbey (NCAA-II; Belmont, NC) in 2019 for his freshman year, attending the Cape Cod league following, and then transferring to play JUCO ball at Northwest Florida State Junior College (NJCAA; Jacksonville, FL) where he was able to obtain draft eligibility as a sophomore.
During his year in JUCO ball, Way was one of the best two-year college prospects where he ranked tops in wins (3rd overall with 5), strikeouts (4th overall with 58), and ERA (8th overall at 0.67) over 7 appearances (6 starts) and 40 innings of work.
Unfortunately, given the shutdown of minor league baseball, the Yankees were unable to assign Beck Way to any professional baseball after drafting him, in which Way passed up a commitment to Louisiana State to sign.
As a pitcher Way commanded three pitches in college with a 4-seam fastball that has good movement and sits in the mid-to-low 90’s and can touch 97 MPH, while still holding room for improvement with better conditioning. He also has a mid-80’s changeup that plays above average while his low-80s slider is inconsistent. Most scouts are expecting him to be a reliever if he is to crack into the MLB due to a delivery that shows effort with each pitch and his coming out of the bullpen as a freshman and during summer ball.
What Will the Future Hold?
After two years of JUCO ball, Way has set him self up to likely make his professional debut with the Tampa Tarpons (Low Single-A, Southeast) with an ability to move up the levels quickly if he shows better control while learning under the Yankees pitching coaches. With his untraditional route towards getting drafted (and the minor league level shifts) Way is a hard player to place at a level for next year given their being no benchmarks or standards.
With Beck Way, how fast he is able to learn and implement the Yankees standards into his game is going to be the main metric to consider with how quickly he moves up the ranks. With only 3 pitches, I’m interested to see if the Yankees try and teach him something new to complement the fastball (maybe a cutter?) or if they focus more on helping Way best control what he’s already got. I’m not ready to make a judgement on his MLB ETA yet before he plays professionally, though I can agree his profile seems destined for that perspective ETA to come in a reliever role.
