Beware of Beltre by Jared Carrabis
Despite All Star vote totals, Beltre is the man


"Beware of Beltre," a phrase that once was only relevant to forward-charging left fielders, but now is a mental note in the minds of all opposing pitchers when facing Adrian Beltre.

After cracking the ribs of Jacoby Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida, Beltre turned his focus to cracking the baseball all over parks across America. Boston's new third baseman jumped out to a .338 average in the month of April. Prior to playing in a game for Boston, Beltre was being advertised as a player who was a free-swinger. Despite that reputation, Beltre got on base at a .372 clip in the month of April.

Most were thinking, Great! A hot start for Beltre definitely helps, but then the right-handed batter hit .333 in the month of May, with five homers and 25 RBI in 28 games.

Here we are on the last day of June, and after hitting .378 for the entire month, Beltre currently sits in second place in the majors with a .349 batting average. Just like everyone expected, right?

Beltre hit 8 homers in all of 2009 through 111 games, before an injury cut his season short. The man at the hot corner already has twelve long-balls, and it's not even the All Star break yet.

You'd think that his .331 batting average at Fenway Park was pretty good, but that's nothing compared to his .371 mark on the road that goes hand-in-hand with his 1.033 OPS away from Fenway.

When it comes to the power stroke, it doesn't matter where Beltre is. Of his 12 home runs, six have been hit on the road and six have been hit at home. His RBI totals are almost just as equal, as he's driven in 25 runs at home and 27 runs on the road -- in seven less games, for that matter.

When it comes to the All Star Game and its joke of a voting system, Beltre is fourth among American League third basemen. Boston's third baseman trails Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Young, and embarrassingly, he's closer to Brandon Inge in fifth than he is to Young in third.

Well, you may be wondering where he stacks up against the others in what actually matters for something. Beltre is first in hits among AL third basemen (101), first in doubles (23), second in homers (12), third in RBI with 52, but just two RBI behind Rodriguez for the most, and his .948 OPS is tops among AL third basemen by a significant margin. Apparently this merits a fourth spot in the All Star voting.

According to FanGraphs, Adrian Beltre has played at a level that makes his value higher than any other third baseman in the American League.

With two outs and runners in scoring position, his numbers are mind-boggling. Beltre hits .455 when men are in scoring position with two away, and has driven in 22 runs in 33 at bats.

The odds are certainly in his favor, as Beltre makes contact with pitches thrown in the strike zone 87.6% of the time.

Do the right thing. VOTE BELTRE

-Jared Carrabis

To order Jared's debut book, One Fan's Story: If This Hat Could Talk, click HERE!





Published on June 30, 2010

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