Jalen Beeks was mostly an unknown, even to die-hard fans of the Boston Red Sox, when he took the mound in March during an exhibition game against Team USA.
That lack of notoriety began to change when Beeks retired six of eight batters and threw 21 of his 31 pitches for strikes against an all-star lineup of Americans who went on to win the World Baseball Classic. Not bad, especially for a guy who wasn’t considered among the Red Sox’s Top 20 prospects when the season began.
“Beeks was much better than anticipated,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said after the game in an article published in The Boston Globe. “The opportunity was in front of him and he excelled.”
Beeks, 24, continued to excel as a starting pitcher this season while splitting time between Double-A Portland, Maine, and Triple-A Pawtucket, R.I. In 26 starts, Beeks went 11-8 and set a career-high with 155 strikeouts and a career-low with a 3.29 earned run average that included a 25-innings scoreless streak from April 22 through May 18.
The left-hander from Prairie Grove is now considered a rising prospect after he was named the Red Sox’s minor league pitcher of the year. That’s quite an accomplishment for Beeks, who was selected in the 12th round by the Red Sox from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 2014.
“That’s a big jump going from Double-A to Triple-A, but I was able to adjust pretty well,” said Beeks, who has returned home to Arkansas for the off-season. “It was my best year in (professional) baseball, no doubt. I was able to improve my mechanics and my (mental) approach was better in that I was able to concentrate on the things I can control and not worry about things I can’t control.”
Beeks wasn’t the only former Razorback pitcher to be cited for an award this season. Right-hander D.J. Baxendale won the Harmon Killebrew award for community service while playing for the Minnesota Twins’ Triple A team at Rochester, N.Y. Baxendale, an 11th round selection in 2012, spent most of the year with the Red Wings, where posted a 2.98 ERA in 54 1/3 innings.
Baxendale and Beeks are two of the handful of former Razorbacks who work out in Fayetteville during the off-season to stay in shape.
“D.J., he’s great,” Beeks said. “He should be in the big leagues right now.”
Beeks has had a good year off the field, as well. He and his wife, Brie, are expecting a baby boy, Jack Christopher, in November to join Breckly, the couple’s 17-month-old daughter. Jalen and Brie each attended high school in Prairie Grove but didn’t begin dating until they were in college at Arkansas.
Beeks won’t have to go to the Arizona Instructional Fall League like last season, which will allow him plenty of down time to spend with his growing family. But there’s always baseball and Beeks is watching the playoffs, where Andrew Benintendi, his former teammate at Arkansas, is facing former Arkansas pitcher Dallas Keuchel and the Houston Astros in a best-of-five series.
Beeks is now ranked No. 9 among Boston’s minor league prospects by Soxprospects.com heading into the 2018 season. With another strong showing in the spring, Beeks could join Benintendi at Boston and become the next former Razorback to reach the major leagues.
“I can envision it,” Beeks said. “It’s a dream of mine. I just have to keep doing the things to put myself in the best possible position to succeed.”
Rick Fires can be reached at rfires@ nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWARick.