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Last night, in a win against the Nationals, Carlos Beltran hit two home, drew a walk, and made an 
outstanding catch on the warning track, with the bases loaded, to end the eighth inning.
“Well, as soon as he hit it I thought it was gonna be over my head, because it sounded good off the bat. I just put my head down and went back to the wall and I was thinking I have to do something to try to cut this ball. but it stopped and I was able to make the catch. It was good, because, you know, if it would have been over my head it would have been a different story. But, thank God I was able to get to it.”
Beltran is hitting .282 with 26 HR, 106 RBI, 110 runs scored, 21 stolen bases, 38 doubles and will most likely win a Gold Glove Award for his defense this season.
He has a .373 batting average in 51 at bats this September, with five HR and and just seven strike outs in 14 games.
The following poll is a vague, but that’s sort of the point:
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I wish there was a kind of option.
coming off surgery in both knees, I really don’t know what else people could ask for.
More power from his bat, but based on his career numbers it was probably unrealistic to expect him to hit homers at the rate he did the last 2 years.
yeah, 2006 isn’t going to happen again. it’s amazing to me that he’s put up the numbers he has, considering.
His HRs are down but he has hit as many doubles as ‘06 (5 more than ‘07) and as many triples as ‘06 and ‘07 combined. His SLG is right in line with his career average…
He’s slugging over .500. That is excellent and in line with a reasonable expectation.
Beltran’s always met my expectations. I’ve always valued his defense slightly more than his offense but I think he’s proven he can contribute.
Yea, me too. He is everything and more that i expected defensively. Offensively though is a different story. Obviously last night he was great and he has been good of late but earlier in the season he was just unacceptable. The only reason that fans wouldn’t get on him like they did Delgado ( early season ) was because Beltrans defense is expectional.
Another brilliant headline from Metsblog.
“Carlos Beltran can hit and catch”
WTF is this a kindergarten blog?
It was meant to be funny. Hopefully your criticism was not.
Hey, what does your non kindergarten blog headline say
You may go away from this awesome website an any time, JD.
And please do.
seems like we have a new mvp on this team every couple of weeks
11 games left whomever wants can go out and grab it.
thats right…i wont stand in anyones way.
well we’re lucky to have a few really talented mvp caliber players on this team, and we need them to carry us more than ever if we’re going anywhere this season.
As for Beltran, I’d like to attribute his disappearing act at the plate the first half of the season to his knee surgery recovery, but it’s not like he hasn’t pulled these diapppearing acts before. That’s the real knock on him, for a player so talented to have such a lack of offensive consistency. Hopefully a hot September (and October?) will carry into next season and he can have a fully healthy and consistent season. He’s my favorite player to watch, I still feel lucky that I get to watch him play baseball every day and that Omar would bring a guy like him in.
more players are streaky than they are consistently putting up good numbers, that is just the facts of baseball.
Just ask David Wright.
Best centerfield in the division.. and maybe in the league
yup…best defensive IMO in MLB…best overall tough to say…good argument…id say top three in no particular order….josh hamilton, grady sizemore, beltran…
Hamilton and Sizemore have done it for one or two years. Beltran has played at this level for the past 7 years. I don’t think you can compare these guys to Beltran just yet. Beltran is so underrated it is ridiculous.
I’d say its a good argument to have when it only comes down to a few players for best CF in ML.
Yeah. I mean, Sizemore and Hamilton are really the only other guys that come to mind who you can compare. I still think Beltran has proven more then either of them and he has done it playing on the biggest stage.
Hamilton also hasn’t hit much in quite a while.
He’s at .303, 31, 124. Undoubtably ahead of Beltran, but compare that to where he was at the allstar break:
.310, 21, 95. And he’s certainly come back down to earth. Hard to say just how good he really is. Also, I don’t know much about him defensively, but I can’t imagine he’s ahead of Beltran.
Beltran’s also at an ops of 875, Hamilton at 905. Better, but pretty close.
The Home Run Derby is the destroyer of seasons.
ELESTAQUI!!
IMO, Beltran is one of the top 3 CF roamers in all of baseball. It is Sizemore, Beltran, Ichiro. After that, they all tend to blend into one another. I think that a 30hr, 100rbi, and 100rs player is pretty darn valuable.
There are time that he frustrates the heck out of me, but all I have to do is wait for that moment when he just amazes me. And he did that last night with the first home run that looked like it was on a frozen rope and then the catch at the wall.
Plus, considering that he is batting out of position in this line-up, I think that his numbers are very good.
Beltran is the only CF in MLB to have 100 RBI’s and 100 runs.
I think he’s the only outfielder in baseball with 100 RBIs and 100 runs
nah, Berkman is the only other…he just got his 100th RBI, so that makes two…still not bad at all.
Sorry but Berkman has not played a lick of OF this season. Only 1B and DH.
Isn’t Berkman a first basemen? Am I losing it here?
haha..my bad i was using yahoo fantasy stats to check
and he’s listed as OF
Beltran has always been streaky. It seems his numbers always gravitate to a similar stat-line each year, and if they don’t, another 20 games would probably do it.
When he is cold, there is no more frustrating player because he does not throw down his helmet like Wright did the other night, or even sweat like others seem to. He is cool either way.
For a player like Beltran, what determines if he is having a good year or a bad is whether or not his hot streak comes at the end of the year when it is needed most. This year it seems to be, and that’s all we can ask for.
Also, this is the first year he made it to the end of the year without a missed week due to injury — another big plus.
Yeah, in all likely hood he will play in 161(!) games this season.
Can the Beltran hating finally stop for good? This guy is an amazing baseball player.
trade em
Easily the most enjoyable player to watch in the outfield - he covers an obscene amount of ground.
He is also the most polarizing player on this team. For as much as he brings to the field the amount of people that want to trade him is unbeliveable.
Remember the Beltran for Holliday push? Completely insane. That is what happens when the baseball illiterate propose trades.
Watching the god awful Milledge play in centerfield the past few days makes you appreciate his defense all the more.
haha…watching milledge set up almost on the warning track…oh man he’s hilarious.
It’s my opinion that Beltran is playing exactly where his talent level is. He has only hit above .300 twice in his career and his career BA is .280 (right now he’s at .282). And, again, he has only hit 30+ HRs twice.
His playoff run w/ the Astros in 2004 was an anomaly and it happened at the exact time he needed it to happen (in order to get a higher contract).
That’s not to say that Beltran isn’t a good player, we just paid way too much for him and have expected way too much from him.
What we should expect, year in and year out, is a .280 average, 20+ SB, 25+ HRs and Gold Glove defense. I’m content with that …
Voted yes to this question because Beltran has been solid all year. I’d really like to see the same question asked about David Wright’s season. On paper it looks fine, but dig just a little and you’ll see what a disappointment he’s been this year.
LOL.
frustrated would be a better term…i’m not disappointed with Wright…he’s sat only what 1 game all year? He has come up with many big hits…even his first walk off HR of his career.
I think people see him struggle sometimes in big spots, but its hard to expect a guy to come through every single time. batting in the 3 hole, I think he gets the most opportunities in big spots. And when success is hitting 3 out 10 times, its hard then to expect a guy to get a hit in a big spot 10 out of 10 times…unrealistic.
He’s hitting .240 wit RISP. That’s disappointing and frustrating. He’s killing us in big spots. Take the last 2 nights for example.
Correction, .239 with RISP, .188 w/bases loaded, .230 w/men on base and 2 outs, .255 man on 3rd<2 outs.
That’s extremely disappointing.
Any mention of Wright and the MVP award is a joke.
He’s got a .368 obp with RISP and 2 outs, which means he’s not making a lot of outs in that situation and most of his hits have gone for extra bases. Personally I’ll take that over someone who hits .270 with RISP.
Also his OBP with men on base w/ 2 outs is .347 and he’s slugging nearly 500, over half of his hits in that situation have gone for extra bases. Personally I’d take a guy who hits .230 with men on but hits for extra bases and avoids making an out over someone who hits .270-.280 with singles and a low obp percentage.
Also, Wright has hit tons of first inning / early homers.
They don’t show up in late game stats, and often not in RISP stats, but they’re just as big.
By far the most all around player in the NL. Maybe the most underrated. I guess because he does nothing with flare. Like last night, that catch was amazing. Any other CF it would have been over their head or even the greats would have had to lay out and make a highlight reel catch. Beltran’s does not even make top plays because he makes it look so easy. Or even one that goes unnoticed. The one that dropped in front of him he slides this time to make sure that he keeps the ball infront of him. Many on here get mad because he does not dive for balls infront of him, however, what you see is a guy that really understands the OF and knows the balls he can get to and the ones he can’t. Listen to the words of Tatis, Evans and Murphy. They can tell you how well Beltran knows positioning in the OF.
anybody know where I can see his catch…I missed it.
Milledge would have caught it. It landed right where he is normally positioned :)
Best centerfielder hands down in the NL. Only one who is maybe better in all of baseball is Grady in CLE. His offensive has been fine. His homeruns are down a bit but as he said power wise he got off to a slow start this year because of the knee surgeries. I would not be surprised at all if he gets to 30 HR’s this year the way he has been hitting lately. Beltran is a great all around CF and he was one of the few players who played good last September and he is doing it again this September. Gold Glover every year 100 RBI 100 runs every year … I mean what else do people want from this guy. Who cares if he got off to a bit of a slow start this year. Again besides Grady there is not one CF in all of baseball who can compare to him. CARLOS IS THE MAN.
BelTRON is doing a great job in center, probably the best the Mets have ever had. People expect him to hit like Micky Mantle, but he’s more like Bernie Williams, with more speed, power and defense. He never kills you in the field and usually at the dish, last at bat of 2006 playoffs aside. Somehow the salary he gets means he’s underperforming, which is to say if you got a raise and were told to keep up the good work you’d be underperforming.
Here’s another kindergarden line: Carlos Beltran is very good at baseball. He’s easily the best defensive centerfielder in the NL if not in all of baseball. His offensive production has been tremendous. He hits for average and power, he draws walks, doesn’t strike out all that much and is a great baserunner. Did you know that Carlos Beltran has the highest stolen base success rate in baseball history? I can’t believe that there are stil 7% of Mets fans who are not happy with Beltran’s performance. What more do you want him to do? Come out of CF in the 9th inning to be the closer?
ACtually if you look a little deeper Beltran may be the best CF in the MLB. Everyone always wants to put Sizemore way ahead. Look at how similar their stats are.
Save myself some time. Each catagory you will see the winner and the numbers of both
Runs: Beltran 110-94
Hits: Sizemore 161-159
2B: Beltran: 38-36
3B: Sizemore: 5-4
HR: Sizemore: 32-26
RBI Beltran: 106-88
SO: Sizemore has 106 Beltran has 88
BA Beltran .282-.272
OBP: Sizemore .380-.373
OPS+ Sisemore 133-132.
So looking at these numbers and the leagues that are played in it can be argued that Beltran is better. At best it can be said 1A 1B for the top CF in the MLB.
I would say that the only other thing that may sway things to Sizemore is when you compare their respective teams. For a majority of this year, the Mets have been a much better team that the Indians.
But, Beltran does have alot more ground to patrol.
True but the AL is normally known as an offensive league too and it’s not like the AL central is a powerhouse of pitchers.
Hey if you asked me who would I rather want on my team I would take Beltran. Since his days in KC he was always been one of my favorite players. I was insanely happy when the Mets got him. People want to talk about his contract that is not unreasonable at all by 2008 standards. Even if they did overpay for him a bit who cares. Grady is a great player the one big thing I feel he has on Beltran is he is younger. But they are the two great CF in baseball and we have one of them and the fans need to shut up about Carlos and understand we have the best CF in baseball.
Yay Beltran!
So I guess after last night the “Break up the Mets - Trade Beltran” crew can grab some beers, while the “Break up the Mets - Trade Wright” squad chimes in, then?
I will admit to criticizing Beltran at times this year, especially when he goes two strikes into the count and we all know the breaking ball is coming and he whiffs at it, but he is clearly the most underrated guy on this team.
I voted “no,” but I guess it depends on WHICH expectations we are talking about here. The expectations that were set a couple of years back after his signing? No, he isn’t. The lowered expectations that I now have for him, yeah, he is meeting those especially with his recent production at the plate.
Seriously what more were you expecting?
The guy is going to give you
.280 30 100+, 100+ while playing the best defense in CF in the majors.
I can’t understand what more you would expect?
.300 40 125, 150?
I’m sure some were expecting his 2004 playoff production to be like some sort of norm, and it clearly isn’t, maybe only 1 or 2 other players in the history of baseball had a run like he did in the playoffs. Other than his really awful 2005 debut year and his fluctuating power, Carlos Beltran is who we thought he was.
I think it’s hard for some people to get over him taking the called third strike to end the 2006 NLCS. Overall he’s been great, just some bad moments in high profile situations, along with his general streakiness. Let’s not forget that huge grand slam he hit with 2 outs/2 strikes against the Marlins back in August, one of the biggest hits all year.
As rotoworld said a few days ago, Beltran is one of the few players to have gone from being overrated to being underrated. His good-but-not-great BA and HR totals mask the fact that he excels in so many different areas. He draws walks, steals bases at a record-seting %, gets a lot of extra-base hits, has prodigious runs scored and RBI totals, is a very smart baserunner and plays Gold Glove CF. His HR totals are down, but that is basically true all over baseball. He’s one of the most remarkable baseball players I’ve ever seen.
I think the size of his contract is irrelevant to the discussion. And, apart from the 2005 season, his performance for the Mets has been completely in line with what he did before joining them. I think he’s been exactly what they had a right to expect.
If our bullpen had the same type of numbers relative to their peers that Beltran does we would be in first place by at least 10 games.
Beltran is easily at or above expectations. Give me 100+ RBI runs scored and great defense from any player anytime any position at whatever priceand all will be OK with the lineup if the pitching works
What I love about Beltran (well, one of the things) is perfectly illustrated in his quote above. “Well, as soon as he hit it,” Beltran says, “I thought it was gonna be over my head, because it sounded good off the bat.”
I added the emphasis there, but how cool is it that this guy is playing baseball with all his senses? Sure, Carlos isn’t the only guy who does this, but I’ll bet there aren’t all that many who do it better. Think about it — this guy looks at the pitch (as well as predicting what kind of pitch his pitcher is going to throw), combines that with what he knows of the batter and where he tends to hit things, combines that with the trajectory of the ball off the bat and the sound it makes, and putting all that together, he’s able to run to exactly the right place and catch the damned thing, more often than not.
I believe that Carlos Beltran, like other great defensive outfielders before him, seems to have an innate understanding of both the psychology and physics of this game; he collects all this data, does some computations in his brain in a split second, and then uses his great athletic skills to run, jump, dive, or do whatever it takes to pull the ball out of the sky. His gold glove awards are richly deserved. I don’t think there’s anybody else playing today that’s quite like him.
Offensively, I guess he’s not quite as consistent as he could be… but he’s still quite good in that department, and when you add his defensive abilities and his baserunning abilities into the mix and you’ve got an outstanding center fielder.
I dunno… he’s no Roger Cedeno.
Keith Miller either.
He’s no Tsuyoshi Shinjo
I kinda feel like people all vote yes, but most still feel he isn’t. I’m happy with his production - he’s not a flashy stat guy by any means, but he is so well rounded. His defense is outstanding as well.
Carlos Beltran is one of the greatest Mets. We all expected power when we signed him, but got so much more, especially in terms of his fielding.