Beckham sits with tight right hamstring
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KANSAS CITY -- Mariners shortstop Tim Beckham, who has played a major role in the Mariners¡¯ hot offensive start this season, was held out of the lineup for Monday¡¯s four-game series opener against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium due to tightness in his right hamstring.
The 29-year-old from Georgia has put up a sterling .400/.489/.825 slash line with five doubles and four home runs in the team¡¯s first 11 games, but was removed in the fifth inning from Sunday¡¯s 12-5 win over the White Sox after feeling the leg tighten while scoring from first on Daniel Vogelbach¡¯s bases-loaded double in the third.
Beckham tested the leg prior to Monday¡¯s game under the watchful eye of Mariners athletic trainer Rob Nodine, but wasn¡¯t able to go full speed and the decision was made to give rookie utility man Dylan Moore his first start at shortstop.
Beckham missed two months -- from April 25 to June 25 -- due to a strained left groin muscle last year with the Orioles and doesn¡¯t want to go down that road again.
"I want to keep this a one-day thing as opposed to going out and pushing it,¡± he said. ¡°I want to continue to be a part of this. I don¡¯t want to go out and be a superhero on April 8. I just want to be smart about it and be here for the team throughout the whole season.¡±
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Beckham doesn¡¯t believe the issue should linger, and said he was available to pinch-hit if needed. But when he went to reach a higher gear in his pregame workout, the leg wasn¡¯t quite ready.
¡°When I go from 50 to 75-80 percent, I feel it kind of pulling at me a little,¡± he said. ¡°But it¡¯s no pain, no soreness, just tight.¡±
After signing a one-year, $1.75 million contract as a free agent, Beckham was the American League Player of the Week in his first week with the Mariners, and continued his torrid start by going 5-for-11 with five runs, three RBIs, two doubles and a homer in three games in Chicago over the weekend.
¡°He¡¯s swinging the bat really good. It¡¯s tough to take him out,¡± manager Scott Servais said. ¡°He¡¯s been right in the middle of everything and he wants to stay in there, too. But we¡¯re doing the right thing, just being out ahead of it before it blows up into something worse.¡±
Worth noting
? Right-handed reliever Shawn Armstrong threw a scoreless eighth inning on Monday for Triple-A Tacoma at Sacramento, giving up a double and striking out two in a 16-pitch rehab outing.
Armstrong is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list as soon as he¡¯s fully recovered from the strained left oblique that sidelined him just after the team arrived in Tokyo three weeks ago, but he will likely need to make a couple of rehab appearances for Tacoma this week before potentially rejoining the club during the next homestand.
? Rookie right-hander Gerson Bautista isn¡¯t as close to returning, as he¡¯s still in Arizona rehabbing from a strained right pectoral muscle. The hard-throwing 23-year-old is playing catch, but hasn¡¯t begun throwing off the mound, according to Servais.
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? Of the 160 MLB hitters who¡¯ve homered 50 or more times since 2015, Mariners left fielder Domingo Santana has hit the most opposite-field home runs at 44.8 percent, according to Statcast data. Boston¡¯s J.D. Martinez and San Diego¡¯s Eric Hosmer are tied for second at 39.1 percent, followed by the Tigers¡¯ Miguel Cabrera at 38.7 percent and the Reds¡¯ Joey Votto at 33.6 percent.