“I have been playing horrible,” he told The Boston Globe after Friday night’s 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Orioles. “I’m not trying to be bad. I’m not trying to let everybody down. I’m just not playing the way I should be playing.”
Beltre committed his fifth error of the season in the fourth inning of the series opener in Baltimore, tying him with the Orioles’ Miguel Tejada and the Padres’ Chase Headley for the major league lead. The error bumped his fielding percentage down to .912 and led to a costly O’s run.
“There are some easy balls that I should be getting to, and I’m not making the play,” he explained. “But I’m not playing the way I should be playing. I’m getting caught on in-between hops and putting myself in bad situations. I know I can play better than that.”
As for his offense, the club wasn’t expecting too much coming into the spring, but the Hub has been pleasantly surprised through the first month with Beltre in the lineup. In 22 games played, Beltre leads the team with a .338 batting average and .372 on base percentage. Although he’s homerless, he has driven in nine runs and scored five more.
Beltre has been hot lately. Going into Saturday night’s contest, he’s riding a seven-game hit streak and has a hit in 10 of the last 11 games. He’s had multiple-hit games in four of his last five but is struggling to produce on the scoreboard, as he’s driven in just three runs and has scored four in his last 16 contests.
Based on his recent numbers in Seattle, the Red Sox were hoping that Fenway Park would help revive his bat, but ironically, his numbers away from the Fens have been far superior than at home. In 10 away games, he’s hitting .385 with six RBIs compared to a .293 BA and three RBIs at home.
While $10 million could be a bargain for a two-time Gold Glover with a 48-homer, 121-RBI campaign under his belt, have Beltre’s offensive numbers been enough to overshadow his poor defense? Are the Red Sox getting their money’s worth?
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