Beltre was handy, dandy

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The baseball ricocheted off John Lackey’s foot, bouncing away from the pitcher, who took off after it. He had no chance to get to the ball in time, no chance to get the batter out.
That was when Adrian Beltre appeared, calling off his pitcher. He tumbled in from third base, grabbing the ball with his bare hand and winging it to first from the middle of the infield grass while falling to his right. It got there in time, before the Mets’ Alex Cora.
The play was hardly remarkable for Beltre, the defensive master, whose talent at coming in on slow rollers and making one-handed stab-and-throws has been well-documented. But it was the first time for most of the Red Sox, and for most of their fans, that the new third baseman had demonstrated just how exceptional his defensive abilities are.
“I just react to it,’’ Beltre said. “I don’t think about how I’m going to throw it, where I’m going to throw it. I try to get to the ball ’cause I can get it, and throw hard where I can. And try to make a good throw.’’
Lackey, for one, has seen it happen too many times — against him.
“Pretty awesome play by AB,’’ Lackey said. “Dude can play.’’
“Defensively he’s pretty special,’’ manager Terry Francona said. “That’s a reactionary play, that’s a great play. He’s got a good arm.
“Now, again, if he keeps his feet under him, that’s certainly better. I understand on a play like today you have to throw like that, but anybody, the more they keep their feet under them, with accuracy they’re always going to be better.
“You can tell he’s been throwing the baseball all his life. It’s a natural thing. He can throw it from a lot of angles.’’
It’s clear from yesterday’s play, and from many others over his 12-year major league career, that Beltre can play, his instincts nearly perfect. The arm is impressive, the way he can rocket the ball across to first base, whether standing, from his knees, off balance. It seems he is always at third before games, always taking ground balls, always working to make himself better.
“Unbelievable hands,’’ said third base and infield coach Tim Bogar. “The reason he has those is his work ethic. He takes numerous ground balls, just constantly.
“He’s got really good feet. You’ll see, he has a signature thing where he kind of stops and throws flat-footed because he’s got such a strong arm.
“But he’s special to watch, covers a lot of ground. I think he’s one of the best there is.’’
That’s why Beltre doesn’t mind when he gets made fun of for his defense. Impossible? His defensive brilliance is such that he has taken ribbing from his pitchers when he doesn’t complete a play. He recalled an instance last fall when, as Seattle ace Felix Hernandez tried to keep himself in the mix for the Cy Young Award, the third baseman told his pitcher to throw away so the Blue Jays wouldn’t hit it to his side of the field.
Beltre said to Hernandez, “ ‘If they hit it to me, I’m going to make an error and I don’t want to make an error.’ [The batter] hit a bullet to me and I tried to block it. It hit my glove and went right through my legs.’’
All Hernandez had to do was give Beltre a knowing look when they came into the dugout at the end of the inning. Beltre is clearly still amused at the memory.
“They give me a hard time when I make an error, they make fun of me,’’ he said of his pitchers. “I like to be fun, I’m an open guy. I rarely get mad if somebody tells me anything.’’
From the way Lackey was talking yesterday, it hardly seems like there’s going to be any mocking soon. The pitcher sounded a bit in awe, recalling their days in the American League West, watching the former Mariner from the Angels dugout.
“It was fun, the days I wasn’t pitching,’’ Lackey said. “He was something. Guys on our team, on the bench, we would talk about him: That dude can pick. Definitely impressive to watch him play defense.’’
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @amaliebenjamin.