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Rays' Prospect Making Sure To Soak It All In

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Tim Beckham fields the ball during spring training at Charlotte Sports Park.

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By MARC LANCASTER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2009

Updated: 02/23/2009 11:22 pm

PORT CHARLOTTE - All Tim Beckham could do was sit back and take it.

One day last week, the youngest Ray was subjected to a carefully choreographed verbal beating from a man who has been handing them out for years, wisecracking Tampa Bay first base coach George Hendrick.

The 19-year-old prospect's misstep? Having the audacity to get a post-workout massage.

Forty years Beckham's senior and a veteran of numerous seasons patrolling Astroturf outfields, Hendrick had grounds for complaint in that department. But he's hardly the only one taking shots at Beckham this spring. A week into camp, he has absorbed a steady stream of good-natured initiation barbs with his trademark smile plastered across his face.

"They're wearing him out a bit," Rays manager Joe Maddon said with a laugh. "When you get invited to big-league camp this young, if you're any kind of savvy at all, you understand you're going to get a little bit of that. I think he handles it well. I'm sure seven years from now he's going to pass it along to the next guy."

At that point in Beckham's career, he should have the clout to hand down whatever abuse he can conjure up to a fresh-faced prospect. Because when the fun stops and it gets down to the business of baseball, Beckham has been as impressive as the Rays expected him to be when they drafted him first overall last summer and gave him a $6.15 million signing bonus.

With less than a half season of pro ball under his belt, Beckham is in major-league camp because of contractual courtesy. Of course the Rays' staff is curious to see what the kid can do on a daily basis, but his time with the big boys is being designed as a learning experience.

"I know I'm not going to make the team," Beckham said, "but I'm still going to go 110 percent every day and show them I can do it."

Just hanging around the likes of Carl Crawford and Pat Burrell is education enough for Beckham, but the Rays are taking other steps to ensure he maximizes his time before reassignment to minor-league camp sometime next month.

Maddon said Beckham will be assigned extra post-practice work every day, rotating between offense, defense and base-running. Monday, he took batting practice under the watchful eye of hitting coach Steve Henderson and didn't arrive back into the clubhouse until long after some players had already left for the day.

"I need it," he said. "I need extra work."

His willingness to put in the time necessary to excel already has been noted by the Rays' minor-league staff, and the organization as a whole already likes what it sees for the future.

"This guy's going to be good," Maddon said. "This guy's going to be really good."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227.

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