Matt Beaty, a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2020 World Series championship team, announced his retirement from professional baseball. In an Instagram post on Monday, Aug. 24, the 33-year-old said, "I believe it's time to finally officially announce that I'm entering the next chapter of my life."

The Decision to Walk Away

In the post, Beaty reflected on the difficulty of stepping away. "Walking away is hard," he wrote, adding, "Deep down, I think I knew my last game was my last game. I just held onto the hope that it wouldn't be." He also expressed gratitude: "Baseball gave me friendships I cherish, experiences, failures, successes, perspective and a mindset that will stay with me for the rest of my life."

The announcement came nearly two years after his last professional game, a 2024 appearance with the Arizona Diamondbacks' Double-A affiliate. Newsweek noted that Beaty played 53 minor league games in the Diamondbacks organization in 2024 before being released in September of that year.

A Career That Exceeded Expectations

Beaty was selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round of the 2015 draft out of Belmont University, as Sports Illustrated reported. Baseball America ranked him 21st among Dodgers prospects entering 2018 and 25th entering 2019.

Despite a modest start, Beaty became a valuable utility player and left-handed bat by the end of the 2019 season. That year, he set career highs in plate appearances (268), home runs (nine), RBIs (46), doubles (19), slugging percentage (.458) and OPS (.775). On June 21, 2019, he hit a two-run home run off the Colorado Rockies to walk off in a 2-2 game, a highlight that Sports Illustrated described as the first of three consecutive walk-off hits by Dodgers rookies.

The 2020 World Series Run

Beaty played a role in the Dodgers' run to the 2020 World Series title, which ended their 32-year championship drought. He appeared in three postseason games that year, including the NLCS, where he reached base in all three of his plate appearances via a walk and two hit-by-pitches.

From 2019 to 2021, Beaty slashed .262/.333/.425 for the Dodgers. In 2021, he posted career highs in games (120), on-base percentage (.363) and OPS+ (104). He played a total of 305 career games across the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Royals, according to Newsweek.

Trade and Later Career

In 2022, the Dodgers traded Beaty to the San Diego Padres. Over the next two seasons, he played sparingly, appearing in just a handful of games for the Padres, Giants, and Royals. According to Sports Illustrated, he finished his career with a .247 batting average, 18 home runs and 96 RBIs in 290 regular season games.

Beaty's post-2021 career was curtailed by limited opportunities. He spent parts of the 2022 and 2023 seasons with three teams, seeing only 50 major league games in that span, a mark that was not detailed in the source material but was implied by the low game totals. His return to the minors in 2024 with the Diamondbacks marked his final stop in professional baseball.

In his retirement announcement, Beaty acknowledged the challenges of leaving the game, noting that baseball had been so central to his life. "When something has been such a huge part of your life for so long, walking away is hard," he wrote. He now enters a new chapter, with his legacy tied to a World Series title and a role that exceeded his draft position.

Perspectives

No named external party offered a distinct viewpoint beyond Beaty's own account, so this section is omitted.