Adrian Beltre Placed on Disabled List
By Editorial Staff
The Texas Rangers have placed All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain.
Beltre injured his hamstring during Friday night’s contest against the Blue Jays. He had to be removed from the game in the 5th inning after pulling his leg going from first to third on a Michael Young double.
A Saturday morning MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain and Texas estimates Beltre will be sidelined for two to three weeks.
Beltre will be sorely missed by the NL West leading Rangers. The third baseman leads the team with 76 RBI’s and has posted a line of .276/.318/.505 with 20 home runs on the year.
"“It’s a huge impact, but as we always do, some guys have to step up,” manager Ron Washington said. “You don’t replace that. You just try to do the best you can. We’re not going to stop playing our game, and we’re not going to make any excuses because Beltre is not in there.”"
Texas signed the slugger to a 5 year $80 million deal this offseason after his impressive 2010 as a member of the Red Sox. Beltre posted an OPS of .919 with 28 home runs and 102 RBI’s, garnering MVP votes in his first and only season in Boston.
To replace Beltre on their roster, the Rangers have recalled Chris Davis. Davis has been an enigma of sorts for Texas, as the 25 year old has destroyed minor league pitching but has yet to carry his success over to the bigs.
He’s spent parts of 4 seasons with Texas, posting a respectable but not spectacular OPS of .763 over 260 games. He was with the Rangers for much of the 2009 season and hit 21 home runs, but couldn’t hold his roster spot in 2010 when he posted an OPS of a only .571.
Davis has been playing first and third base as well as left field for the Rangers’ Triple-A squad this year, and once again has been putting up video-game like numbers at the plate. In 48 minor league contests, Davis has hit 24 home runs and 14 doubles while driving in 66 RBI’s for an OPS of 1.229.
The Rangers will use a combination of Davis and Young to cover third base in Beltre’s absence. Texas wraps up their weekend series with the Blue Jays today in Toronto.
For more on the Rangers, be sure to check out Nolan Writin’.