ARLINGTON, Texas -- When the Texas Rangers acquired Josh Hamilton for the equivalent of a couple of peanut butter sandwiches in late April, he wasn't supposed to be a key player.
He was supposed to be one of the guys, just another player who could help the Rangers win games after a couple of miserable seasons with the Los Angeles Angels.
Well, that's no longer the case as the Rangers begin a four-game series Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles. His role is about to expand.
More important, the Rangers need him to be a quality player, if they're going to continue their unlikely quest to make the playoffs.
Hamilton, who has been on the disabled list since June 2 because of a strained hamstring, has spent much of the past week on a rehab assignment with Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock.
There's probably no better place for Hamilton to return to the Rangers' lineup than Camden Yards, where he once homered four times in one game.
"I don't have any expectations for Josh," manager Jeff Banister said recently. "He's one of 25. All I want him to do is play hard. Do that, and everything else will take care of itself."
That's called coach-speak also known as empty rhetoric. The Rangers need Hamilton to play well.
The Rangers, the American League's hottest team in May, have struggled in June. They've lost three consecutive series and seven of eight games. Less than two weeks ago, they were a season-high six games over .500.
When Hamilton joined the Rangers, the club was playing well and he just wanted to fit into the clubhouse and not create any distractions. He did a good job, scoring five runs and collecting five RBIs in only seven games.
He played good defense and created stability in left field, where the Rangers have used a litany of players without much success.
Now, Hamilton could find himself playing center field instead of slumping Leonys Martin, who has three hits in his past 39 at-bats (.077) with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
Hamilton can certainly handle the position, but it's risky to put him in center, where he's going to consistently going to have to cover more territory than he would as a corner outfielder.
Hamilton, who missed all of spring training as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery and bickered with the Angels, has already missed more games than he has played this season.
He has played more than 150 games twice in his career, and there's every reason to believe he'll get more brittle and miss more games as he ages. The trick for the Rangers is maximizing whatever talent Hamilton has left without overusing him and making him more susceptible to injury.
It's not easy to do, considering Prince Fielder is the designated hitter and Mitch Moreland is having a terrific season at first base.
The Rangers can use Delino DeShields in center field and put Hamilton in left field to save his legs a couple of times a week, but DeShields is playing the outfield for the first time in his career and the Rangers don't want to overload him.
Whatever Banister chooses to do defensively, the Rangers must have Hamilton's bat in the lineup.
Whether he bats fifth behind Adrian Beltre or sixth behind Moreland, Hamilton makes the lineup longer, deeper and considerably more dangerous. Again, no one expects him to put up the MVP-caliber numbers he did in 2012, when he hit 43 homers and drove in 128 runs.
But if he can have the type of productive at-bats he did before he strained his hamstring by laying off garbage off-speed pitches and being a tad more selective, then he'll hit enough to be a difference-maker.
And as long as he continues to play as hard as he can each and every day, the fans will continue showering him with love, which is all he has ever really wanted.
The Rangers never envisioned Hamilton being an integral piece on this team, but that's what has happened. How he handles it will a play a big role in determining whether the Rangers play meaningful games in September.