Beer called up to MLB -- after a slip in river

Seth Beer’s call to the big leagues came in the perfect fashion for the 24-year-old first baseman.

Beer, an avid fisherman, was in the Truckee River fly fishing when he heard his Apple Watch ring and saw Triple-A Reno manager Blake Lalli’s name across the screen. Beer immediately knew he had to answer the call. The rush led him to tread through the water and get back to the bank of the river to do so.

After slipping and falling underwater on his way to the riverbank, Beer answered in time to hear the news he had been dreaming of his entire life -- he was being called up by the D-backs on Friday.

"It was the exact way I wanted to get that call,” Beer said. “[I] was doing something that I love outside of the sport of baseball, and to be able to kind of get that call and just share that moment of just brief relaxation, but also excitement at the same time, it's the exact way I wanted it to go down.”

Beer said calling his girlfriend, Taylor, and his parents to tell them about his promotion to the Majors was an emotional moment.

“I've dreamt about that moment for years and years and years, and to actually have it turn into reality is pretty cool,” Beer said. “Everybody was crying. I was crying. I mean, how can you not be? This is a dream of mine basically my whole life. To actually be able to make those calls to those people and share the excitement was just an incredible moment."

Beer, the D-backs' No. 12 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was acquired by the club at the 2019 Trade Deadline in the deal that sent Zack Greinke to Houston and also brought Josh Rojas, J.B. Bukauskas and Corbin Martin to Arizona.

In three years in the Minors, Beer had success at the plate in every level, hitting .292 with a .901 OPS across 289 Minor League games. This season, he hit .287/.398/.511 with 16 home runs, 59 RBIs and 73 runs scored in 100 games for Reno.

At the time of his callup, Beer led all Triple-A players in runs scored, was tied for the lead in extra-base hits (49) and was ninth in on-base percentage.

D-backs manager Torey Lovullo said Beer’s numbers speak for themselves.

“Very well-deserved opportunity for him,” Lovullo said. “He has been doing a great job in Reno. All the statistics, all the indicators that we can look at numbers-wise have showed us that he's been growing and learning as a hitter, and he's ready for this challenge. Some of the things that we're hearing from the Triple-A staff and some of the people that go [out] there and see him is that he's more than ready for this challenge.”

Lovullo said the plan is for Beer to make his first start on Saturday against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Beer is set to be penciled in as the designated hitter for that game and then will be worked into the mix at first base that already includes Christian Walker and Pavin Smith.