New York Yankees Minor Leaguer Dazzles with Five No-Hit Innings

The New York Yankees are going to have a decision to make this winter when it comes to the Rule 5 Draft. While all teams are constantly in search of pitching that can help their club, the Yankees have one arm that is thriving this season--at the age of 26--and if left unprotected, he'd certainly end up swiped away by another club in December.

The player in question is former second rounder Brendan Beck out of Stanford, who has gone 7-2 in the minors this season while posting a 2.43 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A. That comes complete with a 0.91 WHIP, a 22.7% strikeout rate and a tremendous 4.9% walk rate.

On Friday night, Beck went five scoreless innings, walking one and striking out nine in his fifth start in Triple-A. The nine strikeouts are a new career high.

Despite being selected in the second round of the 2021 Draft, Beck missed all of the 2022 campaign after needing Tommy John surgery, and had his 2024 season wiped out due to elbow issues. He'd collected all of 34 innings in the minor leagues heading into this season, so for him to be thriving as well as he has been in 2025 is impressive.

Friday night he relied heavily on his slider, using it 42% of the time and getting nine whiffs on 16 swings (56%). That was followed closely by his low-90's heater that sat at 91.6 miles per hour, which was more effective at getting called strikes than swinging strikes. His curveball (16%) and changeup (3%) rounded out his pitch arsenal.

Beck has terrific control of his pitches, which is arguably his greatest strength on the mound. FanGraphs ranks him as the Yankees' No. 27 prospect, and gives his command a future 70 projection on the 20-80 scouting scale, which is high praise. They also gave him a 55 projection on his slider and a 50 on his curve, while his changeup is average.

The one drawback for him is his low velocity on the fastball, which helped lead FanGraphs to a 30 grade on the pitch, deeming it well below average.

In his first year after being drafted, Beck was ranked as New York's No. 21 prospect, just a couple of spots ahead of JP Sears, whom the team traded to the Athletics as part of the Frankie Montas deal.

With Beck being Rule 5 eligible this winter, perhaps the Yankees look to make him available in trades at the deadline. He could be a solid "sweetener" piece in a potential deal, and an acquiring team is more likely to have room on their 40-man for Beck than the Yankees.

The most fun option would be for the San Francisco Giants and the Yankees to link up on some sort of deal, since Brandon's older brother, Tristan, has been an up-and-down arm for them for a few years now.