Adrian Beltre's Wrist

[PyroSkank]

From Rotowire, via Yahoo!

Beltre tore a ligament in his left wrist but plans to play the season with it despite the pain, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. "It hurts to hold the bat; it hurts every time," Beltre said. "There's always pain."

Recommendation: Beltre injured his wrist last season, but didn't have an MRI until December. Had he known earlier, he says he would have had surgery. The injury isn't getting worse, but it's not getting better, either. Beltre is hitting .326 this spring, so the wrist isn't severely limiting him, but the report speculates that it could affect his power (he has just one homer this spring). "The [injury] is exactly where the bat sits in his left hand, between the thumb and forefinger, and right-handed hitters like Beltre generate all of their power with the left arm." The ligament is actually no longer torn; scar tissue has built up. Beltre likely will get more frequent days off than usual to his rest his wrist.

This sounds pretty bad, but not terrible. Adrian's my starting 3B right now.
Should I be concerned? Start looking for a backup? (Edwin Encarnación is a FA)

He's probably going to stay in the lineup, but I doubt he's going to put up very good numbers with constant pain in his power arm.

What do you guys think?

[HKDflip]

Ive got the same dilemma. Beltre will probably hit okay for avg., not for power, id say pick up Evan Longoria if hes there or EE

[StarsNPinstripes]

I'd definitely pick up Encarnacion.

[PyroSkank]

Ive got the same dilemma. Beltre will probably hit okay for avg., not for power, id say pick up Evan Longoria if hes there or EE

Not only was Longoria drafted, he's in the minors now.

Who would you drop from this roster? I'm leaning towards Hill.

C Jorge Posada (NYY - C)
1B Ryan Howard (Phi - 1B)
2B Chase Utley (Phi - 2B)
3B Adrián Béltre (Sea - 3B)
SS Miguel Tejada (Hou - SS)
OF Magglio Ordóñez (Det - OF)
OF Corey Hart (Mil - OF)
OF Matt Kemp (LAD - OF)
Util Todd Helton (Col - 1B)
Util Pat Burrell (Phi - OF)
Util Corey Patterson (Cin - OF)
SP Erik Bedard (Sea - SP)
SP C.C. Sabathia (Cle - SP)
SP Chien-Ming Wang (NYY - SP)
RP Billy Wagner (NYM - RP)
RP Huston Street (Oak - RP)
P Jason Isringhausen (StL - RP)
P Todd Jones (Det - RP)
P C.J. Wilson (Tex - RP)
BN Aaron Hill (Tor - 2B)
BN Ryan Theriot (ChC - 2B,SS)
BN Billy Butler (KC - 1B,OF)
BN José Guillén (KC - OF)
BN Cole Hamels (Phi - SP)
BN Shaun Marcum (Tor - SP,RP)

[ABA316]

Personally I'd pitch Hill..never been a fan. You have Utley at 2b and Theriot as a backup so IMO you lose the backup's backup every time.

[PyroSkank]

That was my thinking, too. I was just hesitant because Hill's got some solid numbers.

But you're right, I need a second 3B much more than I need a third 2B.

Thanks a lot, everyone. Feel free to leave a link and I'll try to return the favor.

[Guzman24]

Blalock could also be another option. He's looking pretty good this Spring which is encouraging.

[Justblaze]

Yeah ditched Hill as well. Theriot is a flexible player that can fill in 2B and SS. I'd take a chance on EE, especially if Beltre gets hurt. I actually like Glaus better though. Pick him up if he's there. He certainly has more power than EE and said that the turf was the reason for his injuries.

[ABA316]

I have Easy EE as my starting 3b in a 14 team league so it's safe to say I'm a little high on him this year LOL..he was a fill in for me last year when Figgins couldn't fall from a boat and hit water.

Guessing he's drafted but it wouldn't hurt to see if Ty Wigginton can be had..

[PyroSkank]

Glaus & Wiggy are spoken for, but Blalock's still available.

Hmm . . . Hank had better numbers per game last year in just about every category, and he's got better career numbers (on average), but his shoulder problem could come back to haunt him. With Beltre's wrist, I think I'd rather go with EE, just to be safe.

Agree or disagree?