Beltre

[Edgartohof]

Beltre may not be with the Mariner's right now, but he is still having a very good Spring. So far in the WBC, he has been a major force for the Dominican Republic, with 3 HR's and 8 RBI. So the outlook for him is good, and I do think we will see more offense out of him this year, with a better BA, and a little more power (.265-.270 and 25-30 HR's). I think this is good for him, as he gets actual game experience, instead of sitting on a bench letting some minor leaguer get some experience, he gets to see a lot of different pitchers, and the pressure will help to get him into mid-season form faster.

[ichiro262]

He just popped another one -- off of Javier Vasquez this time. Vasquez is a good pitcher who was cruising up to that point. Honestly, this seems like a lot more than spring training to me. You don't see pitchers throwing fastball - fastball - fastball - .... just trying to locate. A lot of pitchers are taking chances, which typically doesn't happen in spring training as they want to keep their pitch counts down. I think Beltre's success in the WBC means more than it would if it were happening in spring training. It's exciting to watch him cracking 'em out again.

[Rennie Stennett]

It is good to see Beltre making good contact. He's got that style I like: Hit the ball hard somewhere. I hope he has more homers and doubles this year. He seems like a double's hitter, who occasionally hits one out. Just going up the middle and it went out of the park. I know it's tough coming over from the National League. In the American League they don't throw that get it over, get ahead fastball on the first pitch.

[SABR Matt]

His swing mechanics were screwed up last year...he seems to have fixed that so far this year although he had an ugly at bat today against the Cubans. I think he's always going to be kind of wobbly in terms of consistancy of his mechanics...but I think he has some tools this year to get himself back on track when he gets out of sorts, so I expect the end result to be significantly more positive.

[ichiro262]

Totally agree. They showed on ESPN how his mechanics changed to gain consistency. But, you're right, he's still got that Juan Uribe-ish out of control swing that's going to be somewhat different every time. But he's definitely made improvements.

[KCGHOST]

Beltre has been in the bigs for 8 seasons. He has seven so-so seasons and one monster season. The odds say he will be so-so.

[bluejaysfan]

Beltre has been in the bigs for 8 seasons. He has seven so-so seasons and one monster season. The odds say he will be so-so.

I think Beltre could have a good season. I don't think he'll match his totals from 2004 with the Dodgers where he hit all those HR's and all, but he certainly should be better than last season.

[johnny]

Beltre has been in the bigs for 8 seasons. He has seven so-so seasons and one monster season. The odds say he will be so-so.


After sweating out the Cirillo years :grouchy :grouchy :grouchy if Beltre keeps with the good glove and hitting somewhere between so-so and monster I will be more than happy. Given his age, I am thinking that he will continue to improve his consistancy and while monster season is asking a lot its not out of the question.

[Rennie Stennett]

Did Beltre play winter ball this year ? He looks like he's trimmed down a little.

Is he going to hit in the 3 or 5 hole this year ? Sexton getting protection ? He might hit 50 !!! Go M's !

[SABR Matt]

If he's hitting well...Beltre will bat third...if he's inconsistent..he'll hit fifth.

He didn't play winter ball that I know of, but he did train all winter and worked off some weight...I think because he was planning on playing for the DR in the WBC.

[Louder]

Think Beltre is going to have a major season this year: .BA:280, Hr:35, RBI:120 -- he just seems locked in for a good start.

[SABR Matt]

In his entire career...Beltre has NEVER finished worse than he started. Pre-AS-Break his OPS is always lower than or nearly the same as his OPS post-AS-Break. If he starts well...he'll have a great yearl

Let's hope we see good things from the dude in April and May. :)