Adrian Beltre is expected to miss at least 4 weeks with a Grade 2 hamstring strain

Adrian Beltre might not play again in 2017, after an MRI showed a Grade 2 strain that will sideline him for up to a month. That’s unfortunate for many reasons, one of which is that Beltre is just super fun to watch and every game that he’s on the field is good for the game.

The Rangers are only four games back of the second wild card spot as things stand right now, with only a 5.9% change of making the playoffs, but if they have any hopes of making it that far Beltre playing is obviously more ideal that him not playing.

The prognosis is that he will miss at least a month, but after the MRI Beltre said “They say it’s going to be four weeks, but I’m a quick healer.” Which is very like him, optimistic even when things kind of suck.

The initial injury happened against the Astros this week when Beltre was fielding a ground ball to his left side and strained his hamstring. While the Rangers probably knew the follow-up wasn’t going to be amazing, this is a worse outcome than they were hoping for right now as they attempt to make the postseason on those slim odds.

Good news for Texas right now is that there was no further structural damage reported in the injury news. Even though hamstrings take an annoyingly long time to heal, the long term effects should be minimal for Beltre.

Which is important for someone this late in their career, especially with a leg injury that can linger.

Even if he rehabs much faster than expected, by the time Beltre is healthy enough to return the Rangers are probably going to be well out of it and may be better served by letting him rest as much as possible and have him back healthy and better than ever next Spring.