Christian Bethancourt has signed a minor league contract with the Cubs, based on his transaction log on MLB.com. The journeyman catcher was launched by the Marlins final week. The Cubs shall be his ninth MLB group since he made his massive league debut with the Braves in 2013.
Bethancourt did not make a lot of an impression over his first 5 MLB seasons, showing in 161 video games for the Braves and Padres between 2013-17 and slashing .222/.252/.316 with a 52 wRC+. He didn’t play within the majors from 2018-21, bouncing between the Brewers, Phillies, and Pirates organizations, with a quick stopover within the KBO throughout the 2019 marketing campaign.
At 30 years previous, Bethancourt lastly returned to the most important leagues in 2022, showing in 56 video games for the Athletics and enjoying nicely sufficient to be a magnet for the Rays forward of the commerce deadline. He continued to play nicely with Tampa Bay down the stretch, ending the season with a league-average 100 wRC+ and 1.8 FanGraphs WAR.
Sadly, Bethancourt didn’t discover the identical success in 2023. Whereas he made Tampa Bay’s Opening Day roster and performed 102 video games behind the dish, he completed the season with only a 74 wRC+. His defensive numbers took successful as nicely; he caught 13 of 30 would-be base stealers in 2022 however solely 13 of 57 the next yr. His pitch-framing numbers additionally declined, based on metrics from each FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.
The Rays flipped Bethancourt to the Marlins over the offseason, and his offensive struggles have solely gotten worse in 2024. He slashed .159/.198/.268 over 38 video games in Miami earlier than he was designated for task in mid-June. He was launched shortly thereafter. Bethancourt will now be a part of the Triple-A Iowa Cubs as he strives to get his subsequent massive league alternative on the North Aspect of Chicago. The Cubs have gotten little or no manufacturing from their catchers this yr; the one workforce whose catchers have a decrease OPS or wRC+ is the Marlins. At present, Tomás Nido and Miguel Amaya are the one two backstops on Chicago’s 40-man roster. Presumably, Bethancourt is now the subsequent catcher on the depth chart.
