Rangers' Hamilton batting 5th in regular-season debut Monday

Josh Hamilton will be in left field and bat fifth in the lineup when the Texas Rangers take on the Cleveland Indians on Monday in his highly anticipated regular-season debut.

"We're going to open our arms and give him a great big hug and welcome him," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said Saturday. "And then we're going to treat him like he's one of 25, just like we do with everybody else."

The addition of Hamilton means the club will now own a rather deep outfield corps. As it stands, the club has three burners in the outfield - Leonys Martin, Shin-Soo Choo, and Delino DeShields.

Given the trio, DeShields is the odd man out, as the rookie is batting a modest .271 with 11 stolen bases and five doubles.

With that, Banister wants to keep DeShields in the lineup one way or another. He also doesn't plan on using Hamilton as an everyday guy for the beginning of his term with the club.

"I'll find spots for Delino and keep him engaged," Banister said.

Adrian Beltre, one of the leaders in the Rangers clubhouse, said he's kept in touch with Hamilton. He said the former MVP couldn't be more prepared for this opportunity.

Not only that, but Beltre said Hamilton is expected to be a contributor and won't be stuck with too much responsibility.

"We want him to come in and be one of the guys, enjoy the game," Beltre said. "We know what we can do. We don't expect him to come in and carry the offense. That's not going to be his job. With the guys we have, he doesn't have to do that.

"There's no doubt we'll be better offensively with him in the lineup."