Tampa Bay Rays Option Tim Beckham to Durham

Following his costly base running blunder during today's series finale against the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays have optioned former number one overall pick, Tim Beckham, to Triple-A Durham.

Beckham was in the midst of a prolonged hot streak, as he has been on a tear since the team returned on the all-star break to the tune of a 134 wRC+ over his last 101 plate appearances entering today's game. Overall this season, he has a line of .247/.300/.434 over 64 games.

The reason for his sudden demotion was a lapse of judgment on the base paths today. With two outs, Kevin Kiermaier laced a ball through the right side of the infield with Beckham on second base. Kevin Kiermaier, being Kevin Kiermaier, decided to try and take second base on the hit, but was thrown out by Mookie Betts.

Tim Beckham meanwhile, somehow had not crossed home yet and by the time he did, the Red Sox were already exiting the field.

Kevin Cash did not make an immediate in-game response like he did with Steven Souza earlier this year, but instead, following the game, the Rays optioned Beckham to Durham one day before the rosters expand to 40 men.

It's a harsh punishment for Beckham, but the Rays baserunning and mental mistakes have fallen under scrutiny as of late and Beckham picked a bad time to not hustle as the Rays look to audition players for next year.