Gordon Beckham is having a pretty good spring. He had three doubles yesterday against the Dodgers in the leadoff spot. He’s hit two homers. He was good in college. He tore up the Arizona Fall League. There is no denying he has a lot of talent.

Local media and Sox fans alike have started drooling over the dude. I suppose when the Sox haven’t had a top-flight prospect in forever, bloated expectations and loaded questions come bubbling over the cauldron. Everyone is wondering whether or not Beckham is going to make the Opening Day squad because of a few good games in his first Spring Training.

But, let’s all keep his performance the last couple games in perspective. First, the reason he’s seeing so much time at second base is because Jayson Nix hurt his quad Wednesday and has been out, Brent Lillibridge was experiencing flu-like symptoms this weekend and Chris Getz had the day off against the Dodgers. These are the three most likely to play second come Opening Day.

Beckham, for the here and now, is a shortstop. And no matter what questions you may ask Ozzie Guillen about Beckham challenging Ramirez at shortstop, it ain’t going to happen.

And it’s for a simple reason: sample size. Save for Beckham’s first double yesterday off the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who is expected to be in their rotation, Beckham hasn’t seen much surefire MLB pitching talent. It’s been minor-league guys and um, Team Australia.

Ramirez went .290/.317/.475 in 136 games last season against MLB pitching. Beckham doesn’t have that body of work yet. Has he been impressive this spring? Sure. Does he deserve to be in the discussion for a roster spot Opening Day? Sure.

Does he deserve to be anointed the Sox’s lord and savior? No, he does not. Perhaps, as the Sun-Times‘ editor slapped on Joe Cowley’s article today, we should be dubbing Beckham a “long shot.” He’s making it harder for Ozzie Guillen to ignore him, for him not to keep him in the mix at second, even though right now, his more natural position is short. But Beckham needs some seasoning with a wood bat down in the minors to better assess his skills. A few games in Spring Training isn’t going to be indicative enough.

Again, Beckham is a darn good baseball player. But if he’s on the Sox’s roster and not high-A ball or Double-A to start this season, I’ll whittle clothing out of pancake batter and wear it for a week.

That actually sounds better than it is: I’ve heard batter is soft and breathable in the spring.