Beltran A Mess At The Plate As Yankees Search For Consistency On Offense
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A little more than a third of the way through his contract, Carlos Beltran has yet to make an impact with the Yankees.
And this season he's healthy.
Coming off arguably the worst season of his 18-year career in 2014, Beltran is off to a slow start at the plate, something the Yankees can ill afford considering how much trouble they have had scoring runs since the beginning of last season.
"He is a little frustrated right now because I don't think he is used to struggling,'' Yankees hitting coach Jeff Pentland told the NY Post following Tuesday night's 4-3 loss to the Orioles in Baltimore. "He has been able to hit all of his life. I don't think he knows how to handle it, but there is a first time for everything.''
A career .281 hitter with 373 home runs and closing in on 1,400 RBIs, Beltran is batting .156 (5-for-32) and has driven in four runs in eight games. The 38-year-old switch-hitter also had just a .176 on-base percentage and a .426 OPS, numbers that are alarming on the heels of an injury-plagued season in which he hit .233 with 15 homers and just 49 RBIs in just 109 games.
"It's been somewhat of a struggle so far. There are not a lot of at-bats and (there are) a lot of hitters who are in the same position as we go into the second week of the season,'' manager Joe Girardi said. "Obviously he is a much better hitter than he has shown. There are a couple of hitters in every lineup you need to get going and we have to get him going.''
In the second year of a three-year, $45 million deal he signed prior to last season, Beltran is being counted on to not only bounce back from last year's struggles, but to help get the Yankees back into the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
Pentland said the veteran outfielder just has to fight his way through his slump.
"I don't want to overload him with mechanical things because sometimes you fool with the mind and it turns into something more serious,'' Pentland said.
The Yankees (3-5) play the rubber game of their series with the Orioles on Wednesday night before heading to Tampa for a weekend series.
