Adrian Beltre left the game on Tuesday evening with some tightness in his left quad muscle, and we all collectively held our breath. Would he be okay? We now know that it is a grade 1 strain of the left quad, better news than we were dreading but still no great news, because it means that Adrian Beltre will not be available for the weekend series against the Houston Astros.
Now I know what you are thinking, the Astros? Come on man, what are you worried about? Well, I am worried about Prince Fielder, who is already off to a slow start, not getting the protection that Adrian Beltre provides to him by batting fourth. Let’s admit, there is no other Adrian Beltre in the lineup that is going to protect Prince. Mitch Moreland? Alex Rios? They just don’t offer the same protection that Adrian Beltre does. When he is out of the lineup, the Texas Rangers just are not as good as they are with him in there.
Former Texas Rangers starter Scott Feldman will face off against Yu Darvish tonight, and Feldy is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA so far. Will he over compensate pitching against his former club, or will he continue to pitch lights out? Yu Darvish almost threw two no hitters against the Astros last season, can he repeat that performance? I feel a little tenitive about the Texas Rangers chances tonight against Feldman without Adrian Beltre in the lineup. I would hate to see Darvish pitch another 1-0 loss. Feldman is on right now, I just hope the Texas Rangers have enough fire power to defeat him!
While the loss of Adrian Beltre for the weekend is not the end of the world, it is a significant blow to a team that really cannot afford any more injuries to their roster. We all cross our fingers and hope that Beltre will be back in time for Seattle.