Remember When Beltran Was Fast?
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by user Tmizzle
Does anybody remember when Carlos Beltran used to be fast? I mean, in 2003, he stole 41 bases for the Kansas City Royals, and in 2004, he stole 42 between the Royals and the Houston Astros. Since coming to the Mets after the 2005 season, he's stolen 44 in a little over two seasons. You could probably throw out 2005's results though, as Beltran was suffering from a leg injury and was not at full strength for much of the season. Still, only 18 last year and 9 so far this year. That's not the 5-tool player the Mets signed.
We're talking about the all-time leader in base-stealing percentage, at an incredible 87.4%.
It's not just the base-stealing either. There are balls this year that are hit to center that he should have the speed to close on, but for whatever reason, end up falling in for base hits. Beltran's apparent loss of speed seems to have affected him at the plate as well. Last night, in the 1st inning of a 9-1 loss to the Dodgers, I noticed him ground the ball to third. I remember thinking, with Beltran's speed, he should be able to make that a close play. Wilson Betemit threw him out with plenty of time to spare.
You could make the argument that, because he has Carlos Delgado and David Wright behind him in the lineup, he's more hesitant to steal bases. I'm not buying it. A great base-stealer, like what Beltran used to be, will find opportunities to steal, and should end up with around 25-30 SBs a year. Is Beltran settling into the Andruw Jones mode of play? The "I'm already a great defensive outfielder, let me try and be a slugger and nobody will notice that I've gotten worse" way of thinking?
Maybe this is all in my head. Maybe I'm just trying to distract myself from the worst Mets baseball I've seen in over a year. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my conclusions.
