Tony Beasley’s worst Pirates moment shouldn’t erase what makes him effective

Tony Beasley picked a brutal time to have one of his worst moments as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ third base coach.

With Pittsburgh trailing the Milwaukee Brewers and Jacob Misiorowski on the mound Monday night, the Pirates finally had him on the ropes in the fourth inning. Nick Gonzales, Ryan O’Hearn and Rafael Flores Jr. had strung together three consecutive singles, and for one of the few times all night, Milwaukee’s Cy Young favorite looked vulnerable.

Then everything unraveled.

Flores’ single deflected off third baseman David Hamilton’s glove and rolled into the outfield after shortstop Joey Ortiz had vacated the hole. From Beasley’s angle, though, the ball disappeared. He stopped Gonzales at third while O’Hearn, seeing the ball reach the outfield, kept coming.

By the time Beasley realized what had happened, O’Hearn was trapped between second and third. Milwaukee recorded an easy out, Spencer Horwitz followed with a flyout and a potentially game-changing inning ended with nothing.

In a 5-1 loss, it was enormous. It was also exactly the kind of mistake that can overshadow months of otherwise solid work from a third base coach. But it shouldn't.

Beasley deserves criticism for the play. He knows that better than anyone. That’s why, without being prompted, he walked into the clubhouse after the game and explained to the media exactly what happened.

Accountability doesn't erase the mistake, but at least Beasley isn't hiding from it. More importantly, the play should not suddenly become evidence that the Pirates have a problem at third base coach.

Tony Beasley's costly mistake vs Brewers should not define his body of work as Pirates third base coach

Beasley’s aggressiveness is generally one of his strengths. The Pirates should want a third base coach willing to apply pressure, force defenses to execute and take chances when the situation calls for it. Playing overly cautious baseball simply trades visible mistakes for invisible missed opportunities.

Aggressive third base coaches are occasionally going to get runners thrown out. They are occasionally going to make the wrong read. And, once in a while, they are going to get caught in an almost impossibly bad angle like Beasley did Tuesday.

The alternative is a coach who spends six months waving stop signs and rarely forces the defense to make a play. That isn’t better.

This particular mistake hurt because of the opponent, the pitcher and the moment. Runs were always going to be scarce against Misiorowski, and the Pirates ultimately stranded 10 runners while going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. They couldn't afford to waste one of their best opportunities, but Beasley helped them waste it anyway.

And if we're going to point fingers, the Pirates had plenty of other chances to make sure that moment didn’t decide the game, and they failed to capitalize on those, too.

One ugly sequence can be both costly and understandable. Beasley had a bad view, made a bad decision and owned it immediately afterward. That should be remembered alongside the mistake — not erased by it.

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