It will be interesting to see the route the Red Sox will take tonight versus the Evil Empire (or route, I haven't seen any lineups, yet.) Beltre was one of three big signings for BoTown this winter along with Scoots and Lackey, and I am willing to bet he'll improve, albeit marginally in his batting number this season upon moving from the "pitching haven" of SafeCo field.
But he won't improve tonight. Nah, the guy's 1-13 (.077) versus Captain Cheeseburger in his career. This is where baseball's huge money ego comes in. Beltre will start, I'm sure, with Mike Lowell sitting on the bench. Imagine the press it would get if a big free agent signing sits on Opening Day with an aging, balky third basemen (who, in reality IS THE BETTER PLAYER) actually plays.
Mike Lowell's numbers versus Carston Charles? 5-19, good for a .263. We'll see how it goes. If Beltre humiliates me and has more than 2 hits off CC tonight: 1) Hooray, and: 2) I'll run the first ever contest on this blog.
