ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Figuring out Adrian Beltre isn’t always easy. Take for instance …

Coming into this season no visiting player in the history of Tropicana Field had a worse OPS (.475) when playing at the home of the Tampa Bay Rays. So, one would expect more doom and gloom when the Red Sox visit The Trop for the first time this season, correct? Hold your horses.

Upon further evaluation, since the beginning of 2008 Beltre has actually performed well in at Tropicana Field, carrying a five-game hit streak into Monday night’s game. During the stretch the third baseman has an OPS of .909, with .350 batting average.

Deceiving, isn’t it? And it is because of Beltre’s perception of deception that you don’t get the sense that Red Sox fans have truly found their happy place when it comes to the 31-year-old.

Perhaps it’s because they know there is a strong likelihood that Beltre is one and done in Boston, ultimately drifting into the free agency sunset with his agent, Scott Boras. Or maybe it was all of that defensive promise (hat tip to Joe Maddon here) that was called into question when Beltre made his seventh error on May 8 (his last, by the way). Then there was the fact he is replacing one of the team’s more popular players in Mike Lowell, who had earned the benefit of the doubt the new third baseman still hasn’t been afforded.

But as we sit here right now, Beltre has been worth the Red Sox’ investment. In fact, if you were to make up the team right now, he would be in the conversation to be making his first All-Star appearance, leading all American League third basemen in batting average (.325) and doubles (14).

The fact is that when it comes to looking at the engines that are making this somewhat surprising offense go, Beltre has been one of the most underrated, yet important.

You might look at Beltre and see a corner man who has fewer home runs (3) than every other starter except Marco Scutaro. Or the fact that nobody in the major league’s most patient lineup is as impatient as the third baseman. But Beltre’s value has been equally as important as those working counts or amping up their slugging percentage.

Beltre has hit when it counts, in his own unique way.

- He his hitting .533 with runners in scoring position and two outs (8-for-15). (By the way, Jeremy Hermida leads the AL with 19 RBI in this situation, having gone 7-for-19.)

- He is leading the AL with a .48o batting average (12-for-25) after getting the count to 0-2.

- He is slightly behind former teammate Ichiro Suzuki for the batting average on two-strike counts, hitting .355 to Ichiro’s .360.

Even when Beltre started out the first month as one of the few Red Sox hitters carrying a batting average north of .300, the talk was of how most of the hits were singles, and the needed punch wasn’t there. Well, since May 1 Beltre leads all Sox hitters with 12 extra-base hits (tied with Kevin Youkilis).

It may not last, or perhaps we simply remember Beltre as a chip at the trade deadline. But as we sit here, these are the facts when it comes to the third baseman. Just a simple reminder.