The Pirates have signed catcher Christian Bethancourt to a minor league deal, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Bethancourt will report to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate for the beginning of the minor league season.
From 2013-17, Bethancourt hit .222/.252/.316 over 489 plate appearances with the Braves and Padres, primarily playing catcher but also getting some time as a corner outfielder, second baseman, and even as a pitcher over six relief appearances. (He also played some first base in the minors.) Bethancourt is still looking for a return trip to the majors, having played with the Brewers’ Triple-A team in 2018, the KBO League’s NC Dinos in 2019, and he has also inked minor league contracts with the Phillies in each of the last two offseasons but didn’t see any official playing time with Philadelphia.
Bethancourt will likely be deployed as catching depth, joining Andrew Susac and Joe Hudson as MLB-experienced backstops in Pittsburgh’s farm system. Jacob Stallings and Michael Perez are the Pirates’ top two catchers at the big league level, and since the Bucs are still in the midst of a rebuild, it wouldn’t be a shock if Stallings (currently hitting a cool .246/.388/.400 in 80 PA) was moved before the July trade deadline. This could open the door for Bethancourt or one of the other catchers to be bumped up to the active roster.
Stallings got nailed in the side of the face by a 97 MPH fastball yesterday by Carlos Martinez. I doubt it was anything intentional and Stallings stayed in for the rest of the game. However, I’d much rather have Bethancourt as the #3 catcher than Joe Hudson.
dang Carda pitchers having trouble with control lately
Never really gave much thought about Stallings being a trade candidate simply because the Bucs have a pretty underwhelming cast of catchers in their system but it would be interesting to see what kind of return a trade would bring. Adam Frazier is off to a good start which is atypical for him as he usually starts slow and his bat heats up as summer rolls along. Doubtful any team takes on Polanco as there should be better and cheaper corner outfielders available. Nobody on the roster would bring back a huge haul as most of the bigger names/talents were shipped off in the offseason but the Pirates have a few mid level players left to ship out to continue stockpiling prospects for the future. That said I’m pleasantly surprised at how well the team is playing right now and that they’re generally playing sound, fundamental baseball.
Stallings will be moved at the deadline. They will be seeking pitching and Catching back in all of their trades. Frazier rich Rod any pitcher not named Brubacker.
Hopefully they get back some help for the outfield. Other than Swaggerty and maybe Oliva there isn’t much help in the upper minors and the current MLBers other than Reynolds are uninspiring to say the least. I could see Moran possible being traded too.
Cruz will probably play RF. Moran will the DH in the national league next season and not a free agent for 2 seasons might not be traded this summer
I don’t think that Stallings is going anywhere.He does too good of a job with the young pitchers and they would not get a treasure trove for him anyway.I think that RichRod,Stratton,and Frazier will be traded at the deadline but not for a bucket of balls.