Texas Rangers End of Season Awards

Silver Slugger: Adrian Beltre

Age is just a number for Adrian Beltre. Sure, his production has dropped off some, but he still managed to post the highest batting average on the Texas Rangers roster this season. Beltre led the squad with a .273 batting average. He overcame multiple hamstring injuries and the general wear and tear of a 39-year-old to produce yet another solid season.

Beltre can flat-out hit. He hit in his first full major league season in 1999 and he continues to hit at a high level 19 years later. If he ends up calling it a career, it won’t be because of lost ability. Instead, it will be because he doubts his likelihood of staying healthy.

His playing time was cut down some towards the end of the season. The Rangers wanted to give their players of the future additional on-field experience and that restricted Beltre to either DH or off the bench. That didn’t stop him from being the Rangers’ best hitter in the month of September.

He started 24 September games and hit 8 home runs, drove in 18 runners and posted a .974 OPS. If this past September was the last of his career, you can say with conviction that Adrian Beltre went out with a bang!