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Austin Beck starting to find his groove once more

By David Hill

MESA, AZ - February 23: Austin Beck #98 of the Oakland Athletics bats during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Hohokam Stadium on February 23, 2020 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
MESA, AZ - February 23: Austin Beck #98 of the Oakland Athletics bats during the game against the San Francisco Giants at Hohokam Stadium on February 23, 2020 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images) /
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The 2021 season has not been the best for Oakland A’s prospect Austin Beck. He has been unable to find his way at the plate, either in Triple-A or in High-A ball. After a solid showing in 2019, Beck was expected to take the next step this season, but has been unable to do so thus far.

That may be about to change. He has homered in back to back days, and consecutive at bats, blasting his first inning homer off the scoreboard on Saturday.

Oakland A’s prospect Austin Beck finding himself once more

Beck has battled injuries this season, which may be the reason as to why he has struggled so badly. He had been placed on the minor league Injured List after cutting off a single back in June, missing time as he recuperated.

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It is possible that he had been feeling that injury for some time, which would explain the mediocre results at the plate. Beck had a miserable time in Triple-A, producing a .150/.227/.600 batting line in 22 plate appearances. While he did hit three homers, that accounted for all of his hits, and he struck out 13 times while drawing just two walks.

High-A had not been much better. Entering Sunday, Beck had a .182/.256/.403 batting line in his 86 plate appearances, hitting three homers and six doubles. However, he had also struck out 32 times with just seven walks as he has struggled to make consistent contact all season, something that has been a bit of a concern as he progresses through the minors.

However, his recent surge is giving hope that Beck is getting closer to being the player the A’s hope he could be. The former sixth overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Beck has fallen into the trap of chasing homers in exchange for contact, leading to those elevated strikeout totals. If he can return his focus to having a more natural swing instead of selling out for home runs, the power should come. Hopefully, the A’s can fix him before it becomes too late.

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Austin Beck is starting to look like himself once again. His power is beginning to return, and with that, the hope that he can be the player the Oakland A’s hoped for.