Earlier this month, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune reported that the Padres were mulling a role change for catcher Christian Bethancourt that would allow him to catch, play third base and also pitch. Today, Lin reports that Bethancourt has been up to 97 mph in while facing live hitters and is planning to pitch in the Panama Winter League as the next step in the process (Twitter links).
Bethancourt is working to develop a changeup, Lin writes, but it’s no surprise to see that his velocity is already lighting up the radar gun. As a prospect, Bethancourt was lauded for having one of the best arms in all of baseball and routinely drew an 80 grade for his arm strength (on the 20-80 scouting scale). That, of course, doesn’t mean that he’ll be able to command his fastball effectively if he does attempt to pitch in the Majors, and he’ll need at least one additional pitch in order to succeed, hence the work on the changeup.
While not all transitions of this nature are successful, Bethancourt would hardly be the first player to start his career behind the plate but end up working on the mound. Kenley Jansen is the most notable instance of that jump, but others such as Chris Hatcher, Jason Motte and Troy Percival began their careers as catchers. Of course, this type of conversion is also typically made earlier in a player’s career; Jansen’s final game as a catcher came in 2009 at the age of 22, for instance. Hatcher did catch up until the year 2010 — his age-25 season and the same age at which Bethancourt presently finds himself. That similarity notwithstanding, Hatcher caught just five games in the Majors before making a permanent move to the mound. Bethancourt, on the other hand, has already played in 153 Major League games and racked up 482 plate appearances.
There’s little in the way of recent precedent for a player being able to work as a pitcher, a catcher, an infielder and even an outfielder — the Padres put Bethancourt in the outfield 12 times this season, and he logged a combined 73 2/3 innings between the two corners — but if Bethancourt is able to pull it off with any degree of success, he’d become an enormously valuable asset for the Friars. Certainly, there’s quite a bit of work to be done on his end before that notion even approaches reality, but pitching in Panama this winter will give the club a chance to evaluate him in a game setting and determine the viability of Bethancourt serving as a mound option in the near future. Gaining experience in Panama and during Spring Training will be especially important for Bethancourt, as he’s out of minor league options and therefore can’t be sent down to further hone his skills as a pitcher in the minors.
Cool idea, anyway.
Is this the new competitive edge, the mining of the latest inefficiency? Are we going to see strong-armed third basemen and shortstops, and maybe outfielders doing double duty as relievers? How does a manager formulate strategy when a team can call on up to 10 or 12 relievers in a game?
Maybe not when it comes to late and close games, but extra inning games early in the year could have something brewing. Having a guy who can pitch in the field and not burning a relievers arm early in the year and going to your left fielder for an inning or two might be something on the rise.
It’s all very complicated that some sabermetric stat will capture soon. Is there anything those people DON’T know?
Maybe, it seems like an interesting dual enrolling in pitching and defense, it could be like little league where you just pick the kid out in left field to come in to pitch and put the pitcher at second and have the second baseman shift to left field
I think it would be interesting to see a combined pitcher hitter top prospect who can rake and hit 99 on the gun
You basically just described Shohei Otani, who posted a 1.86 ERA in 140 innings in Japan this season while also hitting .322/.416/.588 with 22 homers in 382 plate appearances as an outfielder/pitcher. Fastball has run up to 101, sits in the upper 90s. Unreal to think about, but he’s 22 and doesn’t need to be posted anytime soon.
Otani is just…he’s incredible. Those numbers – both ways – are just phenomenal.
I have never had such anticipation for a potential posting – even if it’s a while away – before.
Otani should be posted by 25. That guy will come over and be a guy to play every day. Whether it be on the mound or out in the grass, he would easily become an NL managers golden goose come time for a playoff push
Otani like when you make yourself in a video game and crank all the attributes to 100%, and then pitch and bat third in every game.
Yeah, that guy is playing on the easiest difficulty with all the cheat codes set to “on.”
On MVP Baseball 2005 I once that to the fullest extent possible and got bored when it was 83-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Don’t forget Carlos Marmol……and David Ross too!
Trevor Hoffman was a shortstop as was Matt Bush for the Rangers. this is not that abnormal other than he has a good chance to make the club as a catcher/utility player without the pitching angle. This idea was borne from a couple of outings when the game was out of control and no more relief pitchers were available. everyone was amazed at the ease in which he through in the high 90’s
WOW a new concept, oh wait a minute Babe Ruth did it. He started out as a pitcher and was quite good at it.
Brooks kieshnick was a two-way player for the Brewers just a handful of years ago. Micah owings was a pinch-hitter and pitcher a few years back. Someone mentioned Babe Ruth but he was a pitcher only when he came up – he wasn’t used as an outfielder on his off-days. When MLB introduced the “live” ball in 1920 Ruth quit pitching for good
When the game is on the line, it’s Bethancourt Time….