ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is still out of the lineup because of his troublesome left hamstring, but still on the active roster and hoping to avoid a third trip to the disabled list this season.
“That’s the question right now. We want to wait a couple days,” the 39-year-old Beltre said Thursday.
Beltre aggravated the hamstring Monday night when scoring from second base on a bloop single to left-center field. The active career hits leader didn’t play Tuesday night before the Rangers had a day off.
“Medically, it’s a grade 2 (strain). But physically, I don’t feel that bad,” Beltre said before the opener of a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
“It’s not something that’s going to take you six weeks to get back. Hopefully, in the next couple days, it’ll show some improvement. If it’s going to 10 days (on the DL), just 10 days.”
The Rangers activated right fielder Nomar Mazara from the 10-day disabled list. He hadn’t played since the All-Star break because of a sprained right thumb. Mazara was back in the lineup, batting fourth.
Outfielder Willie Calhoun was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Calhoun hit .275 with nine RBIs in 22 games with the Rangers after being called up July 20 when Mazara was formally put on the DL.
Beltre missed 12 games while on the disabled list from April 25-May 8, and was back only five games before returning to the DL on May 14 and missing 16 more games. Beltre missed 61 games last season for two DL stints, first for right calf tightness and then the left hamstring late in the season.
“I think it’s definitely the first time that it’s happened three times in one year. Obviously, we tried to do everything in our power to not let it happen, but it’s baseball,” he said. “Stuff happens. Sometimes you can’t prevent it.”
The four-time All-Star, in his 21st big league season and the last year of his Rangers contract, was asked if he would treat things different being at this stage in his career.
“That brings the question, is this going to keep happening more often? Is it worth it to fight it back?,” Beltre said. “It’s a sign of maybe … time to get close to, you know, say bye to you guys. But again, it’s something that I’ve been dealing with all my career, since I was 20 years old.”
Beltre is hitting .278 with seven homers and 41 RBIs in 86 games this season. He is a .286 hitter with 3,137 hits and 469 homers in 2,900 career games.
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