This feature originally appeared in the 2022 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.




When the Healdsburg Prune Packers took the field during the summer of 2020, it was one of the only games in town due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Area baseball scouts came to Prune Packer Stadium to take a look at some of the top college baseball stars around.
 
One of those prospects was Dylan Beavers, who had just completed a shortened freshman season at Cal. Standing 6-foot-4, superbly athletic and impossibly polite, it seemed improbable that the Bears were the only school in the Pac-12 to recruit him.
 
"All the scouts said, 'Is this Dylan guy for real?'" Prune Packers head coach Joey Gomes said.
 
He was, and is.
 
Beavers is now a junior at Cal and considered one of the top sluggers in the country. He led the Pac-12 in home runs last season with 18 and entered 2022 as a consensus preseason All-American. He is projected by most experts as a first-round pick in the upcoming Major League Baseball amateur draft.
 
Not bad for a guy who many predicted wouldn't hit at all in college.
 
Beavers was projected by most to be a pitcher in college. Tall and lanky with a fastball in the low 90s, Beavers looked the part of a college pitcher. Never mind that he derived much more enjoyment from hitting. He was told repeatedly he would be a pitcher in college.
 
Cal head coach Mike Neu wasn't in such a hurry to pinhole Beavers' role once he got to Berkeley.
 
"We thought he was going to do both," Neu said. "We obviously knew he was super athletic and had a really good arm, and was also a really good hitter in high school. But at the time if you asked what I thought he'd end up being, I honestly would have said we'll give him a chance to do both, but I think he has a chance to be really good on the mound."
 
Beavers did get some work in on the mound during fall ball of his freshman year, but it didn't take long for Neu and Cal's coaching staff to determine the program would be better served to make him a full-time hitter. He played in 12 games as a freshman in 2020 – none as a pitcher – before the season was suspended due to COVID-19.
 
Neu hadn't completely ruled out Beavers seeing some time as a pitcher at that point, but the developmental opportunities he lost during the pandemic made it unrealistic for him to continue to pursue getting any work in on the mound.
 
Able to focus solely on his hitting, Beavers blossomed into one of the top players in the game last year as a sophomore. Along with his conference-leading 18 home runs, Beavers ranked fifth in the Pac-12 with a .630 slugging percentage. He also batted .303 and led the Bears with 49 RBI and 44 runs scored.
 
"I had anticipated pitching at the next level, but I still loved to hit," Beavers said. "I just like hitting more. I get a lot more satisfaction out of hitting a homer than striking somebody out."
 
While it was frustrating for Beavers that college recruiters didn't project him as a hitter, it wasn't surprising. Beavers spent much of his childhood seemingly getting overlooked, whether it be for spots on an all-star team or for accolades and awards. Growing up along the central coast of California in Paso Robles, he was often overshadowed by future Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee and left-handed pitcher Cooper Benson, who played at Arizona State before getting drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 17th round of last year's MLB draft.
 
Mike Murphy, who runs his own elite baseball facility in nearby San Luis Obispo, has been Beavers' personal hitting coach since Beavers was 10 years old. Murphy still can't understand why Beavers didn't garner more attention as a youth.
 
"In my opinion, he's always been a superstar," Murphy said. "He would lead the county in home runs, and they would give the MVP to somebody else. He's always been a huge talent. Not everyone always saw that for some reason, and I honestly don't know why. I've been saying for 10 years that Dylan is going to be a first-round pick while other people would wonder if he'd even make his high school team. He's making everyone look kind of stupid now."
 
If Beavers does get selected in the first round of the draft, it will give the Bears three first-round draft picks in the past four years. Former star first baseman Andrew Vaughn and standout catcher Korey Lee were both selected in the first round of the 2019 draft; Vaughn went No. 3 overall to the Chicago White Sox before Lee was taken at No. 32 by the Houston Astros.
 
And that may be where the similarities start and stop between the two players. Vaughn was a right-handed power hitting first baseman/designated hitter while Beavers is a left-handed hitting outfielder who also has speed in his game. Vaughn was also more of a polished hitter in college; Beavers likely still has more room to improve while he focuses only on hitting.
 
"Dylan probably has more upside at this point in his career than Vaughn did, but Vaughn had a higher floor," Neu said. "Vaughn was already a very polished player. Dylan has a long way to go to be that polished, but he has a huge upside. He just started in a different place than Vaughn. As he continues to get more at-bats, he's going to continue to get better and better. There are some big gains out there for him."
 
Beavers and Vaughn have never met, at least not formally. But when Beavers drove up to Berkeley for a prospects camp while in high school, Vaughn served as the home plate umpire while Beavers pitched.
 
"Everyone has seen what Vaughn has done. He is someone everyone in our program aspires to be," Beavers said. "Everyone wants to play that well and help the team win like that. He was the most feared hitter in college baseball. That's always someone who I look up to."
 
Beavers was named to the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given annually to the best college baseball player in the country. Vaughn won the award in 2019. No matter what accolades Beavers ends up securing during his time in Berkeley, he will maintain fond memories of the program that allowed him to blossom as a hitter and the institution that helped develop him as a person.
 
"Berkeley is a change of pace from where I live, which I think is good for me to experience," said Beavers, who promised his parents he would finish his degree even if he leaves school early for the MLB draft. "There is a lot of history on this campus and this town. Academics was really important in choosing a college. You have all the smartest people from high schools all over the world here sitting in one classroom. I'm thankful to have the opportunity to sit in those classes."