Dodgers: Could Matt Beaty Be the Next Big Dodger Breakout?

Coming into the season, the Dodgers hype train was rolling. The Joe Kelly signing strengthened the bullpen, David Freese was coming back, and Corey Seager was looking like he was ready to rejoin the team by the end of Spring Training.

But one name left off of the Dodgers hype train was that of Matt Beaty, the 26-year old first baseman who had seen little hype in the media this offseason.

Now, that narrative is beginning to change.

Beaty, through his first 71 plate appearances in the major leagues, is batting .333. He’s got a walkoff homer (2 total home runs), with 4 doubles, 9 runs and 13 RBI. He rarely walks and rarely strikes out, especially in comparison to his free-swinging teammates.

He’s been good if not great and has begun to remind some fans of the Chris Taylor and Max Muncy from “no name to big name” stories that the Dodgers farm system has produced over the past two World Series runs.

But is the Beaty glory story really anything like the Taylor or Muncy stories? Was he really an unknown?

Maybe to some, or even to most, but many analysts and fans plugged into the Dodgers farm system noticed Beaty and his potential heading into this season. Injuries to A.J. Pollock and Corey Seager have helped clear the way to playing time for Beaty, as have the Dodgers lack of left-handed hitting depth on the bench beyond Verdugo and Pederson, who have been starting more often than not in recent months.

In this article, I’ll look into Matt Beaty’s prospect profile and see how similar his batted ball profile has been to that of Muncy’s when “Mad Max” first was called up to the Show.