Adrian Beltre takes batting practice for first time in weeks

Adrian Beltre took batting practice Thursday for the first time since straining his right calf muscle in a different area three weeks ago .

The Texas Rangers third baseman has been on the disabled list since spring training with a strain in another area of the right calf. Before that, he strained his left calf a day before arriving in spring training.

The Rangers hope he’s able to return by the end of the month. He also fielded grounders Thursday but has yet to doing any running. That will be the final hurdle before determining if he’s ready to return.

“The ball sounded good off his bat,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “Anytime Adrian’s in the batters box, it sounds good, looks good.”

Beltre has been unavailable for comment the past couple of days.

“He’s been on the treadmill, been in the swimming pool,” Banister said. “He’s not ready. He’ll be ready when he’s ready. There’s no timetable to speak of.”

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Adrian Beltre takes batting practice for first time in weeks."