Six and One? No way.

It's worth watching a clip of Tim Beckham's first inning run scoring double in the M's 6-4 victory over the Angels last night.

https://www.mlb.com/mariners/video/chris-stratton-in-play-run-s-to-tim-beckham?t=t136-default-vtp

That is the perfect image of a "sweet swing."  In the first seven games of the season he's been doing that over and over.  Enough so, he's notched a significant stat, a wRC+ of 319.  

What's that, so what?  I admit it's obscure but it is a measure worth learning about and considering.

A wRC+ means "weighted runs created plus."  It is an index, so the "average" player has a wRC+ of 100.  The higher the score, the better, meaning the player's contribution to his team's offense is greater than an average player. So far this season, in Beckham's case, he is over three times better.  

Now this is a guy whose lifetime wRC+ is 101, just about as average as you can get and so run-of-the-mill Tampa, who took him number one in the first round of the 2008 draft, dumped him in 2018.  Keep in mind, he was not just #1 for Tampa, he was first in the whole friggin' draft!  Beckham was a major disappointment for the Rays.  Their version of our Dustin Ackley, but far far worse.

An old story.  Tampa gave up on him, traded him to Baltimore for the 2018 season.  The O's were unimpressed with his .230 batting average and subpar 78 wRP+.  Yes that means the Orioles got three-quarters of an average player out of Beckham last year.  He was there for the Mariner's picking this off-season and, fingers crossed, maybe DiPoto got Beckham in the year where all that talent materializes.

Of course I'm not so deluded by that sweet swing to believe his wRC+ is going to stay at 318 all season.  Last year the best player in the league, Mookie Betts, posted a 185.  But even if he drifted down into the mid-100s (Haniger led the Ms last year with a 138) Beckham could do a lot of damage to opposing pitching.

******

Not to be lost from last night was Felix Hernandez' good start and first win since June 30 of last season.  Five-plus innings, two runs, only one earned, no walks and 4 Ks.  He performed well behind some very shakey defense.  His most impressive inning was a 1-2-3 fifth, when he got Trout, Bour and Simmons in order.  Before getting too excited, recall he had a similar line in his first start against Cleveland last year, 5.1, 0, 0, 2, 4.

Six and one... a nice start to the season indeed.