Adrian Beltre played final three months with torn ligament in thumb

(Getty Images) It takes an awful lot to keep Adrian Betlre out of the Texas Rangers lineup. That much we knew well before he suffered a thumb injury on the final day of May. An injury that initially seemed likely to sideline him for a good chunk of the season.

As it turned out, Beltre only missed three weeks of action. Once he returned, he simply refused to be taken out of the lineup. Again, that surprises no one. But it’s sure impressive now that we’ve learned the true severity of his injury.

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According to Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, Beltre played the final three-plus months of the regular season and the postseason with a torn ligament in his left thumb.

Colby Lewis had a meniscus cleanup today; Daniels confirmed Beltre played 2nd half of season with torn thumb ligament. No word if surgery

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) October 16, 2015

And we don’t just mean he played with a torn ligament. Beltre played just about every day and he played very well, hitting .318 with 11 homers and an .884 OPS in the second half. That’s good production for a healthy player. It’s darn near miraculous for a player as limited as Beltre should have been.

That just speaks to Beltre’s toughness, which was also on display during the postseason. Beltre suffered a back injury in Game 1 of the ALDS in Toronto that would have sidelined many players at least through the end of the series. Beltre talked his way back into Jeff Bannister’s lineup four days later for Game 4 in Arlington. He picked up two hits that afternoon and finished the series 4-for-9.

The back injury made it clearly visible that Beltre wasn’t close to 100-percent. He wore that pain on his face with every move. Coupled with the thumb injury, it’s amazing he was able to will himself on the field, let alone perform well in critical games. But he did.

There will be many future debates about Beltre’s merits as a Hall of a Famer. His numbers stack up quite well by the way, with 413 career home runs, 560 doubles and 1,467 RBI. There will be absolutely zero debate about his toughness or his desire to be on the field. These aren’t cases of playing hurt. Beltre was playing injured, which is a definite difference, and he still made a notable difference when his team needed him.

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