Houston Astros: Time to Rethink Carlos Beltran at DH?

3. Outfield of Dreams….Or Reality?!

Many of you fans out there right now are getting nauseous, or even mob-like, at the thought of Carlos Beltran being in the outfield. He is 40, and an injury risk is certainly possible.

But please, slow your roll and here me out on this one!

To accommodate an ever changing lineup and deep roster, the veteran Beltran just may need to take some reps out in the field. He has experience there, and can still hold his own, even at his age.

That’s not to suggest he do this in every ball park in every series, mind you. There are a lot of areas around the league that have dimensions that are too deep to have a player like Beltran to try and handle.

It should be noted, however, that he did start out in right field at Yankee Stadium last Friday, where the dimensions range from 314 feet at the foul pole, to near 362 ft at right center field. In spite of this, Beltran still held his own the entire game.

So does it really stand beyond reason for him to occupy the short left field porch near the Crawford Boxes at Minute Maid Park some? Early indications suggest no.

True, Carlos Beltran won’t gun down runners at home plate out there. There is the risk of opposing runners testing his arm, and they could very well end up winning.

But let’s not make that a primary reason to keep Beltran from taking the field. He himself still feels has some defensive fight left in him. So let’s put it to the test, shall we?!