GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Dominican Republic is headed to the second round of the World Baseball Classic, but Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre remained undecided on whether he’ll join his native team.
Beltre skipped the first round because of a minor right calf injury, and could sit out the second round because his swing is not where he wants it to be. Beltre also said he has not received word whether he can even join the team under WBC rules.Beltre will know more Monday and, either way, said the Dominican will be fine with Miguel Tejada and Hanley Ramirez splitting playing time at third.“They don’t need me,” Beltre said. “The only question going in was starting pitching and they’ve done well. Hopefully they can hold on and win the whole thing. That’s what we’re looking for.”As far as his swing, Beltre said he is not tracking pitches as well as he’d like. He went 1 for 3 on Sunday and is batting .231 this spring.“It’s just not recognizing pitches as well as I want to right now … balls and strikes,” Beltre said.More WBC chatterElvis Andrus and Engel Beltre are expected to rejoin the Rangers on Tuesday or Wednesday after their respective countries, Venezuela and Spain, were eliminated from the WBC.And Andrus will get his fair share of ribbing after talking trash to fellow teammates about the Venezuelan team. A few teammates already put up a ‘Welcome back Elvis’ sign on his locker.“Elvis was telling [Nelson] Cruz that he’d be the first one coming back, and now he is,” manager Ron Washington said. “They couldn’t wait to get on Elvis.”As far as Beltre and Andrus staying in Puerto Rico, Washington said: “You just got your heart snatched out of your chest. Why would you want to be somewhere where you were hoping you’d last longer?”Harrison betterMatt Harrison threw a full bullpen session Sunday and came through it without any problems with the inflammation in his second toe on his left foot.With that type of progress, Harrison is not expected to return to Texas todayfor further evaluation.Harrison had been bothered by it for the past couple of weeks.One more dayMitch Moreland had another day off.The Rangers first baseman has been sidelined the past two days with right quad tightness, but is expected to return to action today against the Giants.“It’s still so early in spring that we didn’t want to push it right now,” Moreland said. “I’m ready to go.”Moreland has put together an impressive spring. He is batting .333 with two home runs and six RBIs in his first 10 games. He has also fared well against left-handed pitchers.“He’s having fun,” Ron Washington said. “That’s the key for him. He has the ability, and he’s just got to trust it and have fun.”Drew Davison, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @drewdavison
