Matt Beaty

BIOGRAPHY

Matthew Thomas Beaty was born on April 28, 1993, in Snellville, Georgia. He is a first baseman and left fielder in the MLB.

Beaty attended Dresden High School in Dresden, Tennessee. In the 2011 MLB Draft, Beaty was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 48th round, but he did not sign. Beaty attended Belmont University where he earned All-State honors three times and was a two-time District Player of the Year, and also played basketball, golf and football. He played in the Northwoods League for the Green Bay Bullfrogs where he was named MVP after his junior year in college. Beaty was named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll in 2013 as a sophomore and was named Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team in 2012 at Belmont University. In 2015, he was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft and signed by scout Marty Lamb.

In 2015, he posted a combined .314 batting average with four home runs and 28 RBIs in 68 total games between both clubs. He spent 2016 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, compiling a .297 batting average with 11 home runs and 88 RBIs in 124 games, and 2017 with the Tulsa Drillers where he slashed .326/.378/.505 with 15 home runs and 69 RBIs in 116 games, earning him league player of the year honors. He also won the league batting title. He was assigned to play in the Arizona Fall League and was chosen for the Fall Stars Game showcase. 

In 2017, Beaty spent the entire season with Double-A Tulsa and was named Texas League Player of the Year following a breakout season where he slashed .326/.378/.505 with 61 runs, 31 doubles, one triple, 15 homers and 69 RBI in 116 games. He led the Texas league in batting average, OPS and doubles, while also ranking 3rd among the best in hits (143), 2nd in extra-base hits (47), 3rd in total bases (221), 12th in home runs, 5th in RBI, 4th in OBP and 2nd in SLG. He appeared in 55 games at first base, 49 games at third base, three games in right field, two games in left field and one game at second base for the Drillers. He was selected as Texas League mid-season All-Star and MiLB.com's Organizational All-Star and was also named Texas League Player of the Week in the period ending Aug. 6. Following the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League with the Glendale Desert Dogs hitting .242 with two homers and 10 RBI, and was selected to participate in the AFL Rising Stars Game.

In the 2018 season, he played in 31 total games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers in the Pacific Coast League where he slashed .277/.378/.406 with 13 runs, 10 doubles and 12 RBIs. He appeared in 16 games at first base, four games at second base, four games at third base and five games in left field. After the 2018 season, the Dodgers added him to their 40-man roster. He began 2019 with Oklahoma City. On April 30, the Dodgers promoted him to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that night against the San Francisco Giants, singling off of Ty Blach.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Beaty played 13 games at first base for the Dodgers, in addition to two in left field and five as the designated hitter. He hit .220/.278/.360 in 50 at-bats, with two homers and five RBIs. He was optioned to the Dodgers alternate training site on September 11 and remained there for the rest of the regular season. He did rejoin the Dodgers roster for the postseason, but only appeared in two games in the 2020 NLCS and did not record a hit in three at-bats. Beaty hit his first career grand slam off of Alec Bettinger of the Milwaukee Brewers on May 2, 2021.

Beaty played in 120 games for the Dodgers in 2021, primarily as a pinch hitter, and had a .270 batting average with seven home runs and 40 RBIs.