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Carlos Beltran believes each major-league organization should have one dedicated Spanish interpreter for players.

(Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports)

BOSTON — Carlos Beltran celebrated his 37th birthday Thursday. He has been a major leaguer since September 1998, three years after he was drafted out of Puerto Rico in 1995. He is en route to an induction in the Hall of Fame and has assumed the responsibility as one of the most outspoken Latino players in baseball.

The outfielder understands what it is like for Spanish-speaking players to arrive in the major leagues uncomfortable communicating in English. He himself did not feel at ease with the language until a couple years into his major-league career with the Royals — and this is for a player from Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States where English is more prevalent than in other baseball hotbeds like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

So when Beltran was told (in Spanish) Thursday that Michael Pineda, a Dominican native with a limited grasp of English, addressed the English-speaking media firestorm Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon after he was ejected and suspended for his blatant use of pine tar without an interpreter, the veteran was surprised.

“Wasn’t Roman there?” Beltran responded, referring to Yankees bullpen catcher Roman Rodriguez, a native of Venezuela who has translated for Spanish-speaking Yankees players.

When Beltran was told Rodriguez, who offered to translate but was informed he was not needed, was not used to translate for Pineda, Beltran expressed disdain.

“It’s a problem, of course, because he can’t express himself the way he wants to,” Beltran said. “It’s a problem. Of course it is.”

Though he admittedly has difficulty with English, Pineda, 25, emphasized Thursday he never uses a translator because he wants to continue learning the language. According to a Yankees spokesperson, Pineda refused Rodriguez’s help Wednesday and Thursday.

Pineda has made some significant progress since arriving in New York in 2012, but as one person in the Yankees clubhouse put it: “He doesn’t understand a lot of the questions.”

“I think Michael did a tremendous job last night, standing up in front of you and not necessarily maybe using an interpreter and hiding behind an interpreter or doing anything like that,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Yet his communication barrier is tangible. Pineda has trouble understanding questions and formulating responses, and though he can manage to hold his own when limited to typical, innocent baseball discourse, it became an issue when he addressed a far more serious matter with dozens of media members in a crammed visitors clubhouse at Fenway Park Wednesday and Thursday — and perhaps was a factor in his second blatant pine-tar use in two weeks that led to a 10-game suspension.

On Wednesday, Pineda was asked twice whether any Yankees officials warned him about the possible repercussions for using pine tar after he was cameras caught the substance on his right palm in his start against the Red Sox on April 10. Both times, Pineda said no.

But minutes after the scrum, a Yankees spokesperson gathered a group of reporters and explained that when Rodriguez was requested to pose the question to Pineda in Spanish, Pineda realized he did not comprehend the question in English. Pineda reversed his answer and clarified that Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild both spoke to him about it.

And on Thursday, Pineda required media members to translate a question in Spanish for him before he could answer in English on three occasions.

Furthermore, Girardi was asked directly if the warning against using pine tar again was conveyed to Pineda in Spanish.

“I know there's the assumption that Michael understands the questions always fully and I'm going to stick to it,” Girardi said. “The conversations and who's in the room when we have the conversations, you're probably not going to be privy to. But my coaching staff, the front office, myself, we're very thorough, that when we want to get a message across, there's nothing lost in the translation.”

Girardi was then asked if he believed Pineda left the room fully understanding the message. The manager shrugged his shoulders.

Pineda is not the first Yankees player to struggle with English without the help of an interpreter in front of the media this season. On Sunday morning, pitcher Ivan Nova explained to a group of reporters he would not know what his partially torn ulnar collateral ligament diagnosis meant until he was given an explanation in Spanish.

A reporter was then asked to describe the injury in Spanish to Nova, who is also a native of the Dominican Republic. Nova will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery Tuesday.

In other instances, media members have had to translate entire interviews for infielder Yangervis Solarte, a Venezuelan native.



These situations plainly frustrate Beltran, whose baseball academy for high schoolers in Puerto Rico provides an English-concentrated curriculum.

Before the Yankees’ 14-5 win over the Red Sox Thursday, the outfielder reiterated Major League Baseball and the Players Association must address the lack of available interpreters for Spanish speakers — 22.6 percent of players on Opening Day rosters this season are from Spanish-speaking nations -- and he plans to broach the topic to both groups.

Beltran acknowledged other players or coaches with a better grasp may be around the clubhouse, but they are not always available or comfortable with the responsibility, he explained.

He understands Major League Baseball has invested millions of dollars in English classes in academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, and in the minor leagues. But he insisted they are not enough, that they are the equivalent of an American high school student taking Spanish classes and not retaining the language.

There are three professional interpreters in the Yankees clubhouse, but they are for the three Japanese stars on the roster as part of their contracts. So while Ichiro Suzuki (40 years old, 14-year major-league career) and Hiroki Kuroda (39 years old, seven-year career) each have substantial experience in the United States, neither (nor rookie Masahiro Tanaka) are required nor expected nor have ever conducted English interviews with an interpreter serving as a filter.

Eventually, Beltran hopes each organization will be required to employ one dedicated professional Spanish interpreter.

“In the big leagues, we aren’t given an interpreter,” Beltran said. “Personally, I understand that it’s also on the player to find help if he doesn’t feel he can express himself in the way he wishes to. But, like I said in spring training, there should be something available for these situations because at the end of the day I know it’s a difficult moment for him as a person.

"At the same time, he needs to make sure he understands the questions that are being asked 100 percent and that he also has the help so he could express himself the way wants to. It’s something that MLB or the Players Association has to address.”