Rangers: Adrian Beltre to Begin Season on DL
By Bill Pivetz
Fantasy owners have been lucky to have Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre for as long as they have. Unfortunately, they won’t have him for Opening Day.
The Texas Rangers will be without longtime third baseman Adrian Beltre on Opening Day. After weeks of dealing with a calf injury, T.R Sullivan of MLB.com tweeted that he will begin the season on the DL. This doesn’t seem like it will be a long stint, likely two weeks. What moves should you make with your star third baseman injured?
Beltre is entering his 20th season, seventh with the Rangers. At 37 (almost 38) years old, injuries start to pile up. If he couldn’t shake off this injury, it could linger all season. Rotoworld provided good news regarding the calf, “a recent MRI ruled out any structural damage.” This will still be something to monitor, though.
Beltre played in 153 games, the first time since 2013. He hit .300 with 32 home runs and 104 RBI. He finished 54th overall on the ESPN Player Rater. I had Beltre as my No. 6 third baseman this season, between Kyle Seager and Todd Frazier. If I knew this calf issue was as serious as it is, I would have moved him down a spot or two.
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The Rangers will have 22-year-old prospect Joey Gallo fill in for Beltre at third. Unless you are in the deepest of leagues or an AL-only league, stay away from Gallo. He hasn’t done much since making his debut last season.
In 53 career games, he has a .173/.281/.368 line with seven home runs, 15 RBI and a 76:20 K:BB ratio.
You would think they would try to find a spot for Jurickson Profar. At least he can make contact with the ball. He would be a better fantasy replacement instead of Gallo.
Speaking of replacements and fill-ins, there are plenty of options on the waiver wire. Seattle’s Danny Valencia is owned in just 13.3 percent of ESPN leagues. He should hit well in the Mariners lineup. Reds’ Eugenio Suarez is another good power option as he hit 21 homers last year. Jedd Gyorko, Ryon Healy and Yulieski Gurriel are also available in about 50 percent of leagues.
Beltre will still be a valuable player for the rest of the season. I think he can hit 25 home runs with a .280 batting average when he returns. Those aren’t the numbers you drafted, but it could be a lot worse.
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The injury doesn’t seem likely to keep Beltre on the bench for longer than two weeks. You obviously slot him in your DL spot and wait for him to recover. Fourteen days out of a six-month season is just 7.78 percent. I think you will be fine without Beltre for that short amount of time. But, you should definitely have a backup in case it happens again.