Tonight as Boston introduces John Lackey to the green pastures of Fenway Park, and bandwagoners and lifers all over New England and New York sit on the ends of their seats and cuss at radios and TVs, somebody is having a birthday.
Boston’s new third baseman, Adrian Beltre, turns 31 today.
Beltre, signed as a free agent in January by the Red Sox, has gotten off to a good start in his new home. On Opening Day, Beltre played flawless defense and collected one hit in three at bats. He also delivered Boston’s first run of the year, hitting a sacrifice fly about 390 feet to dead center field. On Tuesday he went 2-for-4 and stole a base in the bottom of the 2nd.
Many fans consider Beltre overrated, which is an understandable sentiment when you look at his dramatic drop-off in production following the giant contract he signed with Seattle in 2005. After posting a career year with the Dodgers the previous season, Seattle signed him to a five-year, $64 million dollar deal. Seemed fair for a player that put up a season for the ages in 2004, hitting .334, knocking in 121, scoring over 100 runs and finishing with an OPS above 1.000, and hitting 48 homers. And these offensive numbers happened while Beltre displayed Gold Glove worthy defense at 3B (Not to mention Beltre was just 25 at the time). Unfortunately, the power, the batting average- pretty much all the eye-popping offensive numbers- were an aberration, and after moving a thousand miles up the West Coast, his numbers reverted back to his pre-breakout days.
But what Beltre did in Seattle can hardly be considered a failure. Not only has he generally been regarded as the best defensive third baseman in the majors over the last half decade, but before an injury ridden 2009, in four years in Seattle he averaged 24 home runs, over 150 hits, and 88 runs batted in hitting in the middle of a very weak Mariner's lineup.
I won’t get into his incredible UZR and Range Factor numbers, because I’ve already posted a blog on that subject. I had a link to an excellent compilation of defensive wizardry by Beltre in his Seattle days but MLB Advanced Media made a copyright claim on it so it's gone.
Adrian has also been a solid contributor to numerous fantasy teams I’ve managed over the years. He helped Some Machine finish 5th in a Yahoo AL-only league in 2006, limped along with White Plague for 10th (out of 12 teams) in another season in Yahoo, and played briefly for Mighty Like A Rose in 2008 before being swapped straight up for Bobby Abreu. Abreu is long gone now, traded with a draft pick for Grady Sizemore over a year ago, and I was fortunate enough to draft Beltre this year, putting him back in the Brown/Yellow/Orange jerseys of the Mighty. I envision a good year from Beltre. 30 home runs wouldn't be impossible, and his RBI total should improve considerably if he continues to hit 6th or 7th in the Boston lineup.
Beltre made headlines last season when he suffered a twisted testicle in a 14-inning game in August. Beltre is a rare infielder in that he doesn’t wear a cup as he feels it limits his mobility. He ended up going on the DL, and I read that Ken Griffey Jr. managed to get those in charge of the PA system at Safeco Field to play the waltz from The Nutcracker Suite when Beltre came to the plate in his first game back.
Adrian’s numbers in the field can be misleading. He usually collects more errors than most of his contemporaries solely because he gets to balls that other third baseman could only dream of reaching. He’s occasionally fooled badly by sliders, and doesn’t have the most patience at the plate, but he should benefit from the unusual measurements of Fenway Park. As of this moment, he’s on pace to knock in 162 runs and bat .429.
Tonight’s prediction for Adrian: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
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