The San Francisco Giants have activated Carlos Beltran. The 34-year-old, who has been out for 16 days, took some batting practice from both sides of the plate today but won't play in Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres.
Manager Bruce Bochy wants to be cautious about Beltran's return, opting to have the All-Star outfielder sit out Tuesday. But is this a wise move for the Giants? The team surely doesn't want to risk further injury to Beltran, who was only recently acquired from the New York Mets before the injury.
The Giants, however, could definitely use his presence right now. The team needs to turn things around, having won only 6 of its last 17 games. What better way to do that than to bring Beltran? In addition, the Giants are closer than they have been in awhile to climbing atop the NL West despite their recent poor play thanks to the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks have followed up a seven-game winning streak (which had the Giants four-and-a-half games back at one point) with a six-game losing streak, leaving the door wide open for the Giants. San Francisco is only one game in the NL West and could pull ahead if they get hot soon.
The team is wise to be cautious with Beltran. However, they need to recognize that the Diamondbacks are struggling and take advantage. Beltran needs to get back out on the field as soon as possible in order to give the Giants' their best chance in this divisional race.