He is a shortstop playing 3rd base. He will eventually be playing shortstop.
I saw him in high school and college and I can tell you he is definitely on some kind of juice right now. Which is sad because he has a big bat for a pro shortstop anyway. You could compare him to Escobar from the Braves with a little more power.
I saw him in high school and college and I can tell you he is definitely on some kind of juice right now. Which is sad because he has a big bat for a pro shortstop anyway. You could compare him to Escobar from the Braves with a little more power.
Jeff Frouncour? Are you kidding? Go look at Beckham's OBP and the amount of walks he's drawn. He's a much more disciplined hitter. He's a line drive hitter, and he was described as Michael Young with power when he came up. He played 59 games in the minors and he's hitting over 410 in his last 21 games.
By Scot Gregor | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 10/20/2009 12:44 PM | Updated: 10/20/2009 8:18 PM
Gordon Beckham looks like he's going to win plenty of awards before his playing days are over.On Tuesday, the White Sox' 23-year-old third baseman collected his first piece of hardware after being voted Sporting News' American League Rookie of the Year.
The "official" Rookie of the Year trophy, voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, is announced in November.
Beckham is expected to be in a tight race with 20-year-old Detroit Tigers starter Rick Porcello (14-9, 3.96 ERA) for that award.
Selected by the Sox In the first round (No. 8 overall) of the 2008 draft, Beckham started the season in the minor leagues and made his major-league debut on June 4.
In 103 games, he batted .270 and led AL rookies in doubles (28), RBI (63) and extra-base hits (43), while finishing second in home runs (14) and on-base percentage (.347).
"It's very special," Beckham said. "The media has their opinions, the players have theirs. I guess when it comes down to it, the players' is more important. When I found out it was from the players, I was very happy about it."
If Beckham wins the BBWA award, he'll become the first White Sox Rookie of the Year since manager Ozzie Guillen won it in 1985.
"He should feel proud," Guillen said. "There's so much competition right now. But I think he has the right frame of mind and he plays the game the right way. You can see the kid wants to be a leader."
Down the road, Beckham is almost certain to fill that role for the Sox. For now, he just wants to improve in 2010.
The main goal is adding some bulk on his 6-foot, 190-pound frame. Considering Beckham was playing in the Arizona Fall League at this time a year ago, it's no wonder he appeared to wear down during the final month of his rookie season.
"I've got to get stronger," Beckham said. "Last year, I feel I kind of got a late start on getting some rest."
This off-season, Beckham said he'll concentrate on the weight room first and take care of the baseball skills later.
"I think I can improve on my strength," Beckham said. "Lifting, I'll start that pretty soon. I'll take some extended time off before I start hitting and fielding. I guess I played in 145 games this year, and I want to play more than that. It's a long season and you have to prepare yourself the right way."
When looking back at his first season with the Sox, Beckham started attracting national attention after going 7-for-19 with 5 doubles and 7 RBI in a four-game home series against the New York Yankees.
Beckham also has fond memories of his June 27 game-winning single against the Cubs.
"From there, I started to play real well," Beckham said. "I played well for about a month and a half straight."
