Seattle Mariners: My Guy Series: Part 1, Tim Beckham

He’s young at just 29 years young. He’s newest Mariners shortstop, Timothy Lamar Beckham. And what do Beckham and Griffey have in common? They were both number one picks! Yeah, I know Beckham was drafted 11 long years ago but we know the potential that lives in him.

As Mariners nation knows best, July is the month where a lot of teams floating around contention. Even if they don’t really belong there. August is where the playoff big boys pull away from the pack and distance themselves.

August is where the tough-minded players start making a difference. Which is why it’s assuring that in August 2017, Beckham provided quite the slash for his first two weeks as an Oriole at .531/.549/.939 (Paul Sporer of Fangraphs).

Despite being a one-month wonder, the man makes good first impressions. He is especially due to bounce back this season after playing under 100 games the last with groin trouble.

Even though Beckham is a solid addition, we need to remember to hold realistic expectations. It is the fact that he is no Jean Segura and we know that. Jean was our .300 hitting machine. Beckham never broke .300 from 2015-18. That’s not bad, let’s just remember that Jean is the school teacher who everyone adored. He sadly retired and left big shoes to fill. Beckham is the successor who is also a good teacher but needs to win the respect and love of the school. The hope is that he will play better than Miller and Marte.

So do you want to hear some fun details about our newest infielder without a base? Beckham’s BABIP (batting average on balls in play) gradually increased from .279 in 2015 to .365 two seasons later. Yes, it dropped a bit in 2018 but let’s give him a pass, he was injury-riddled.

And as one who still denies Jean’s departure, Beckham’s wRC+ was over 100 (MLB average) just once at 109. In that same span, Jean finished above average three times in that category! Or as Fangraph’s Steve Slowinski put it, “a player created x% more runs than the league average hitter.” So despite Jean beating Beckham in weighted runs created, the latter still created nine percent more runs than the average during his turnaround in 2017.

The point of the above stat is not to downgrade my 2019 guy but to once again remind you all of whose shoes Beckham is trying to fill. After all, he is likely an interim middle-man between Jean and JP. We should still have faith that he will do well this year because he is a veteran player and the Mariners need some to compensate this rebuild.

If by a miracle the Mariners contend for October this year, maybe we’ll see our shortstop as 2019 Comeback Player of the Year. But if not, say goodbye come July and JP’s playing time will be opened up even more. There’s just something about Tim Beckham that makes me think he will be our dark horse Mariner who quietly makes a difference.

Though his career numbers point to him having a Kwame Brown career the way top picks go, sports always has room for late bloomers. Look at how long Justin Smoak needed to get things together yet he eventually did. Beckham may just need the right atmosphere and hitting advisor in Hall-elect, Edgar Martinez. Go, Tim Beckham!