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New York Yankees: Carlos Beltran Finds His Stroke At The Plate

By Kenneth Teape

May 22, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Carlos Beltran (36) hits a single against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
May 22, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Carlos Beltran (36) hits a single against the Oakland Athletics during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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The New York Yankees finally got some production from their lineup, as Carlos Beltran began to heat up during their west coast trip.

The New York Yankees offense has struggled to produce throughout most of the season. They are in the bottom third of the major leagues in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage as no one was stepping up to carry the load.

With aging veterans littered throughout the lineup, there is little that manager Joe Girardi can do. Despite having the designated hitter to give players a rest from the field, that spot is occupied by Alex Rodriguez when he is not on the disabled list.

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That leaves him little flexibility, as it is tough to give someone such as Mark Teixeira a break, who snapped an 0-for-19 streak on Sunday and knocked in his first RBI since May 1st.

Sometimes the best way to break out of a slump is to play through it. That is what happened to Carlos Beltran this weekend, as he was a driving force in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup.

Beltran has had his struggles throughout the season, as he was slashing .246/.279/.485 heading into the west coast trip. Those struggles continued against the Arizona Diamondbacks, as he went 2-for-9 in three games, with no extra base hits and one RBI.

But the next stop on the road trip was a visit to the Oakland Athletics, where the designated hitter would once again be in play. With Rodriguez still sidelined, Beltran was the DH against the Athletics and it looked to refresh the 39-year old veteran.

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Beltran feasted on the Athletics pitching, as he crushed them throughout the four games. Beltran was on fire at the plate, going 9-of-18 (.500 batting average) and showing off his power stroke. Beltran would rope five doubles and one home run in the four games, which accounts for almost a third of his extra base hits this season; he has 12 doubles and eight home runs on the season.

Beltran made the hits count, as he also knocked in eight runs against the Athletics. That is almost half of his season total, as Beltran has 27 on the season. He is now riding a modest five-game hitting streak, and has at least one RBI in four straight games.

Beltran said in the post game interview following Sunday’s win that he is not a huge fan of being a DH because he does not feel as if he is part of the game the same way he does when playing the field. While that may be true, the Yankees look like they may be onto something with Beltran as the designated hitter.

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But, with Rodriguez set to return to the team Tuesday for their series against the Toronto Blue Jays, Beltran will be moved out of the DH spot and back to right field. Will he be able to keep that production going now that he will have to play the field again? We will see Tuesday when Beltran and the Yankees take on R.A. Dickey and the Blue Jays.

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