Tim Beckham is ranked as the 29th top prospect in baseball and therefore should be a very good player in the major leagues at some point. He’s only 20 so he has a lot of time ahead of him. Here is the scouting report according to ESPNs Keith Law.
Beckham's first full year was a disappointment, although he played the entire season at 19 in the Sally League and showed that when he made contact, it was of the hard variety. Beckham, the first overall pick in 2008, is a very good athlete with an outstanding work ethic, but his body got away from him a little in 2009, especially in his lower half, which started to get thicker and slower, reducing his chances to stay at shortstop. To his credit he lost some of that weight in the first half of the offseason. At this point, it's more likely that he'll have to move off the position -- he has the hands and arms, but if you're outgrowing the position at 19, you're probably going to outgrow it no matter what you do -- but his bat still has the promise to play at other positions on the field. At the plate, he wraps his bat slightly and loads a little deep, but he has quick wrists and can catch up to better fastballs. He'll have to work on pitch recognition while also maintaining his conditioning in 2010 to re-establish himself as an elite prospect, but he has the makeup and the natural ability.
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