Chris Kay on 2008 #1 pick Tim Beckham

Here's the second guest post from Chris Kay. Be sure to check out his blog, We Talkin Bout Practice? and the archive of his posts here.

Tim Beckham was the first pick in the 2008 MLB Draft by the Rays. The shortstop out of Griffin, GA is an absolute stud. At 6’1 and 180, the kid has the skills to be a five tool player. Some of the words that I would use to describe the way he plays are “smooth”, “flashy”, and “amazing”. It’s just fun to watch him to play offense and defense. I definitely expect him to play SS in the majors and be like a BJ Upton-like player except I’m pretty sure he’ll be able to use the leather in the infield. 

I played with Tim for a short period of time when I was playing with the Atlanta Blue Jays. He was on the 15 year old team while I was on the 16. We played a brutal schedule composed of almost all 18 year old teams and whenever we played in big tournaments Tim would play with us. The kid was just phenomenal even against guys 3 years older than him. He was not intimidated by them at all. He knew he could play, but he was never too cocky about it which I was happy to see. As crazy as it seems, he came to the Blue Jays as a pretty good player with some skills, but he had to put in countless hours of work to get where he is at now. It’s players like Tim Beckham that you really root for.