To Carlos Beltran, yesterday’s return to the Mets seemed like euphoria.
“Today I felt like a kid in the playground,” Beltran said after coming off the disabled list at Citi Field, “because I feel good to be here.”
Beltran finally got off the DL after nearly a three-month stay, feeling and looking good in his comeback. Beltran, who was out with a right knee bone bruise, was nearly the hero in a 4-2 loss to the Marlins, going 1-for-4 with a double, making a nice sliding catch and just missing a go-ahead grand slam when his seventh-inning drive was caught at the right-field wall.
Though the Mets’ season is in shambles, getting their All-Star center fielder back was a welcome sight.
On Monday, CC Sabathia insisted his goal wasn’t to win 20 games but rather to have playoff success and take home a championship. But what Beltran expects and hopes for over the final 24 games is far different.
“Finish the season without feeling pain,” Beltran said, “without [the pain] coming back.”
For now, Beltran is succeeding. On the DL since June 22, he played five rehab games with A-ball Brooklyn and said his injury is not completely healed.
“The bruise is still there, but I don’t feel anything,” he said. “The doctor said that I have to be careful.”
Beltran said he needs to alert the Mets if he feels anything.
“Honestly, I have to monitor my knee and start slow,” he said.
Before last night’s game, Beltran insisted he won’t play with less aggression than normal, saying he’d dive for fly balls. He then proved it in the eighth inning when he made a fine sliding backhand grab to rob Jorge Cantu of a hit.
“I’m going to play the game,” he said.
Beltran gradually will work his way back. Jerry Manuel said he’ll play Beltran for two games, then rest him, then maybe three games and rest again. But things can change.
“It’s almost like a spring training kind of thing,” Manuel said.
The next issue is making sure Beltran is 100 percent by 2010. He said he was told by his doctor “this is something that should heal completely” and that “with rest it should go away.”
Considering the Mets’ fourth-place standing, Beltran could have sat out the rest of the season. When asked why he came back, he didn’t follow the logic.
“Why not?” he said. “This is my job.”
It felt differently last night, however.
“When I take my daughter to the playground and she’s having fun, that’s how I feel today,” Beltran said. “I feel good.”