PT TOMORROW: AL East — BAL shortstop job bending toward Beckham?

Baltimore Orioles

Orioles manager Buck Showalter has reportedly pledged that when J.J. Hardy (SS, BAL) returns from the disabled list, the team’s starting shortstop job will once again be his.

Increasingly, however, the question is becoming, “Why?”

Since arriving in a deadline deal with division rival Tampa Bay, Tim Beckham (SS, BAL) has been scorching, assembling a 12-game hitting streak, during which he has gone 26-for-49 (.531) with 3 HR and nine other extra-base hits (.939 Slg).

Such offensive fireworks are a distant memory for the 34-year-old Hardy, who is on the disabled list with a fractured right wrist, the latest in a series of maladies that have assured his at-bat total will dip for a fifth straight season. Hardy will almost...

Almost!

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