BOSTON _ Adrian Beltre is going to start playing baseball games this week, perhaps as early as Thursday.
For the second straight day, Beltre did some early running, fielding and hitting with the Rangers on Wednesday, then was cleared to head to extended spring training to begin playing in games there. He left for Arizona without comment to the media. He is expected to play a minimum of three days worth of games in Arizona before the Rangers re-evaluate his situation.
He is going to Arizona rather than on a traditional rehab assignment because the team can control the environment and he can hit in every inning to ramp up the number of at-bats. Depending on his arrival in Arizona, he will begin playing either Thursday or Friday.
The Rangers return home from a nine-game road trip Sunday night after playing three games at Toronto. They host Tampa bay for three games May 28-31, then host Houston June 2-4.
Beltre has not played this year because of three separate calf injuries, the last of which occurred on April 8 during what was expected to be his final workout before being activated from the disabled list.
