Baltimore Orioles: Tim Beckham’s Smooth Transition to Third Base

Without delay, Tim Beckham accepted the Baltimore Orioles decision to move him from shortstop to third base for the 2018 season.

After an offseason filled with Manny Machado trade rumors, the Baltimore Orioles granted Machado’s wish of moving from third base to shortstop.

As a result, Tim Beckham moves to third base, a position where he only has five career starts. However, Beckham has accepted the sudden position change gracefully.

Beckham, 28, is embracing his position change and providing much-needed optimism in the Orioles locker room as many questions still remain about the future of the franchise.

The former No. 1 pick was traded to the Orioles just moments before the 2017 MLB trade deadline that sent pitching prospect Tobias Myers to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Initially, the Orioles plan for Beckham was to be the heir to former Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. Well, that’s not the case anymore.

So far, Beckham looks unfazed at third base at Orioles spring training as he continues to learn from infield coach Bobby Dickerson.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter has plenty of confidence in Beckham’s move to third base, along with the decision to move Machado back to his natural position.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Showalter spoke on the new Orioles infield:

"I don’t really consider it a shuffle, Manny’s a shortstop that’s been playing third base. He played a lot more shortstop than he has third so I look at it more Tim making an adjustment to a new infield position. There’s a lot of things about infield that’s infield, but third base is different."

Next: The (Bad) Trade That Could’ve Sent Machado to the Yankees

In his first month with the Orioles last season, Beckham hit a slash of .394/.417/.646 with six homers and 19 RBIs. Lastly, in five career starts at third base including one for the Orioles, Beckham is error-free.