It’s the right arm that is keeping Carlos Beltran from getting back onto the field. That much we know.
Saturday night, Beltran said his right elbow, which has bone chips in it and forced him to go on the 15-day disabled list in late May, is still sore and stiff some days. On Sunday, it was his right forearm that was the problem — not the elbow — but it is gradually improving, he said. Beltran’s throwing program was shut down recently because of a knot in his right forearm that he said almost has gone away.
“Right now it’s getting better and we’re planning on throwing again, and if it goes wrong again then I don’t know — we need to take another step in doing something different,” Beltran said.
Beltran, signed in the offseason to a three-year, $45 million deal after reaching the World Series with the Cardinals, has yet to make that move look like a sound investment.
Between injuries to the troublesome right elbow and forearm, and his struggles at the plate, the 37-year-old former Met is not right.
Since coming off the disabled list June 5 and being used strictly as a designated hitter to protect his elbow, Beltran was hitting just .164 (12-for-73) with a pedestrian .655 OPS heading into Sunday’s game with the Red Sox. He has struggled since slugging a game-winning, three-run homer against the Orioles on June 20, going 2-for-his-last-25.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi repeatedly has asked Beltran if he needs a day off, as he did again Sunday, and the outfielder has declined each time. He wants to be in the lineup, and in the field, too.
“It is frustrating,” Beltran said. “Not being able to be in the field and having to deal with this and now the forearm, it takes [a lot] mentally, for me to come to the ballpark, get treatment, go to the [training room], [the] whole routine I need to do to get ready for the game. I need to find a way to not think about it and just focus on what I need to focus on. Go out and compete and fight.”
Beltran said not playing the field and being used as a DH is “completely” different. He may be in the role the rest of the year, or he could opt for surgery, Beltran admitted.
“You’re [not] out there but at the same time, you’re in the game,” he said. “Being a DH, you get your at-bats, then you go to the cage to try to stay warm, do a lot of things. Just need to find a way, if that’s what it’s going to be, find a way to have a better approach.”