Adrian Beltre Mild Strain, Colby Lewis to Pitch Early Next Week
Apr 7, 2014; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (15) is forced out at second base by Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The news broke just a little while ago that Adrian Beltre has a grade one strain on his left quad and the Texas Rangers will re-evaluate him on Monday.
Adrian Beltre will not go on the disabled list over the weekend, which was what would allow Colby Lewis to be put on the forty man roster and pitch Saturday against the Astros. Colby Lewis does have a clause in his contract that he can exercise today that will get him out of it, but he has been promised that he will be added to the rotation as soon as a decision is made on Adrian Beltre. Colby has said that he will not exercise that clause today.
Mar 15, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis (48) pitches in the first inning against the Oakland Athletics at Phoenix Municipal Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
So the news is really that we still don’t know on Adrian Beltre, and that the Texas Rangers will get to keep Colby Lewis on the team, even though they are not going to activate him quite yet. The big question now is are Adrian Beltre’s legs still good enough to hold up for an entire major league season, or should the Texas Rangers consider installing bionic legs where his real legs are now. Okay, maybe that is not the real question, but it should be! Adrian Beltre out for any length of time would be a huge blow to a team that really cannot take any more huge blows and seriously be considered as contenders in my opinion No offense to Kevin Kouzmanoff or Josh Wilson, but they are not Adrian Beltre.
We now know that Colby Lewis will be back in Arlington pitching soon, so it is really just a weekend waiting game on Adrian Beltre’s legs at this point. I don’t know about you, but I hate waiting games, especially ones that may land out all-star third baseman on the disabled list. All we can do is hope for the best.