For those who hadn’t seen Gordon Beckham play much before this season, it might be difficult to believe this is the same guy who batted career-worst .209 with a meager .607 on-base-plus-slugging percentage last season for the White Sox, and .226 with a .618 OPS in 2014 for the White Sox and Angels.
In his first season with the Braves, the Atlanta native carried a .317 batting average and .904 OPS in 27 games (96 plate appearances) before Sunday’s series finale against the Marlins, including a double and a three-run homer in Saturday’s 7-2 win.
“I hadn’t seen him since we played the White Sox a few years ago,” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker, the team’s third-base coach when Atlanta played the White Sox in Chicago in 2013. “He’s moving around really good. He’s running good, his lateral quickness and all is really good, and he’s swinging the bat. He’s playing really good right now.”
Beckham was 6-for-14 with two homers and five RBIs in the Braves’ past four games before Sunday, when he made his fourth consecutive start. He came off the bench and hit a two-run homer Wednesday against the Brewers, then started Thursday at third base before starting each of the past three games at second base.
“He’s swinging that bat good so we want to keep going with him, and defensively he’s been really good,” Snitker said. “Just bouncing around and moving. He’s been even better than I remember in spring training. I just like the whole package right now.”
Snitker said after Saturday’s game, when Beckham had a line-drive fly out to the warning track in addition to his double and homer, that the 29-year-old former University of Georgia star was playing “like a teen” again. It made Beckham smiled when he heard what the manager had said about him.
“Yeah, I feel good,” said Beckham, who signed a one-year deal with the Braves and hopes his career revival will give him a chance to stay with the hometown team beyond this seaseon. “I’m enjoying it. Enjoy putting on this uniform every day. It’s a lot of fun for me, being from Atlanta. Definitely enjoying just going out there and competing, it’s been a lot of fun.”
His .488 slugging percentage entering Sunday would easily be career-high if he maintains it, and it as 140 points or more above his slugging percentage each of the past two seasons.
“Seitz has done a great job,” Beckham said, referring to Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. “I really give a lot of credit to him in getting me locked in and on an approach and really sticking to it no matter what. He’s done a really good job of just hammering me on it, just continually telling me that’s the most important thing.
“When I’ve started to buy into it stuff like that (Saturday’s two extra-base hits) happens, because I’m not trying to do that kind of stuff. That’s the stuff that happens when I’m not trying to do too much.”
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