Seth Beer, Mark Mathias Sign With Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks

Former big leaguers Seth Beer and Mark Mathias signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League this week. The team announced both signings.

Beer, 28, was a first-round pick by the 2018 Astros who wound up being one of four players traded to the D-backs in the last-minute deadline blockbuster that brought Zack Greinke to Houston in 2019. The first baseman/designated hitter appeared in parts of two seasons with Arizona, hitting a combined .208/.294/.292 in a small sample of 136 plate appearances from 2021-22.

Though Beer hasn’t found much success in the big leagues, he’s a fairly accomplished hitter in Triple-A, where he’s slashed .262/.365/.463 with 40 homers across 1093 plate appearances in parts of four seasons. He’s walked at an above-average 9.3% clip there and has kept his strikeouts to a manageable 18.8% rate. The lefty-swinging slugger spent the 2024 season in the Pirates system, where he hit .277/.354/.431 in a combined 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A.

Mathias, 30, has a good bit more major league service time under his belt — more than two years’ worth — but much of it has been spent on the injured list. He’s suited up for the Brewers, Pirates, Rangers and Giants in a utility capacity, hitting a combined .246/.317/.391 in 199 plate appearances spread over 73 games. Injuries have been a major detriment to the former third-round pick’s career. He’s undergone two shoulder surgeries: one in college and another in 2021 to repair a torn labrum. That second procedure cost him the entire 2021 season.

As with Beer, Mathias has a strong Triple-A track record but more modest big league numbers in scattershot playing time. He’s a .288/.383/.454 hitter in three Triple-A campaigns, during which he’s tallied 919 plate appearances. Mathias has walked in an impressive 12.8% of his Triple-A plate appearances against a 21.5% strikeout rate. He’s spent the bulk of his pro career at second base but has more than 1000 innings of work at third base in 200-plus innings at shortstop and in the outfield corners.