Rich Couthino of MetsBlog.com summarizes how today went for Carlos Beltran who played five innings in a minor league game, hitting, running the bases, and fielding his position in right field.
Carlos Beltran continued his journey towards Opening Day, playing five innings in right field during a minor league game in Port St. Lucie.
In his first at bat, Beltran fouled out to third, and did not seem to get a good jump on a fly ball in the second inning that fell in for a single, but then caught a lazy fly ball to end the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Beltran struck out swinging. He then got another chance on a base hit to right, charging the ball well and throwing it accurately but late to third on the runner who advanced from first to third on a hit.
In his third at bat, he laced a two run double over the first base bag down the line and ran very fluidly, cutting the base well and scored easily on Ruben Tejada triple.
In his fourth at bat, Beltran topped an RBI single past a drawn in infield, and in his final at bat he flied out to center.
Afterward, Beltran spoke to reporters about his day which you can listen to here.
It’s really starting to look like it’s a real possibility that Beltran will be in right field on Opening Day. The plan is now for him to get the day off on Monday and then play the last two remaining games in the Grapefruit League season with the rest of his teammates.
