Orioles infielder Tim Beckham is going to the 10-day DL with a groin injury, the Orioles announced. Of perhaps greater concern, he’s considering whether to undergo surgery to address the issue, as MLB.com’s Britt Ghiroli was among those to tweet.
The precise nature of the injury and potential procedure aren’t known. It’s also therefore impossible to guess just how long he’ll likely miss whether he does or does not go under the knife.
Beckham, the former first overall draft pick, turned in a strong second half in 2017 after arriving via trade. Entering the season, he was entrusted with regular duties at third base. Beckham has spent most of his career in the middle infield, making him all the more important to a Baltimore roster that is currently missing Jonathan Schoop.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone well for Beckham thus far in 2018. He’s carrying a .179/.247/.262 slash with one home run and 28 strikeouts in his 93 plate appearances. Though he has graded well at third and on the bases, that’s not enough to sugarcoat the struggles at the plate. Indeed, while Beckham has perhaps been a bit unfortunate to carry a .250 batting average on balls in play, Statcast credits him with only a .254 xwOBA, suggesting the poor results have largely been deserved.
Until Beckham and/or Schoop make it back, they’ll be fairly short-handed in the infield. It seems that Luis Sardinas, Danny Valencia, and Jace Peterson will carry the burden at second and third for the time being. That’s hardly an optimal trio at those two positions.
O’s should sign Brandon Phillips and Luis Valbuena. If they play well, might be able to flip them for a prospect at the trade deadline.
They should just trade Manny Machado now while he’s hot and un-injured. Get as much as they can for him.
Valbuena is on the Angels’ active roster.
Right now the O’s can’t outhit their problems. They just have to wait it out until June and start the rebuild process unless, miraculously, they start winning in bunches.
Lol orioles……