Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Letting opportunity slip
Rotowire
Bethancourt has only two hits in 14 at-bats during Grapefruit League play.
Bethancourt has a roster spot locked up, but his portion of playing time is undetermined. Francisco Mejia is the other half of the duo behind the plate for the Rays, and he has also struggled this spring. The result could be an even split of playing time between Mejia and Bethancourt to begin the regular season.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Avoids arbitration with Tampa
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Bethancourt signed a one-year, $1.35 million contract with the Rays on Friday to avoid arbitration, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
The 31-year-old had a surprisingly solid year in 2022, as he recorded a career-high .692 OPS over 333 plate appearances between the A's and Rays. Bethancourt will likely split time with Francisco Mejia in 2023, though he should see a larger share of the action behind the dish.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Not starting Wednesday
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Bethancourt isn't in the lineup Wednesday against Boston, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt started the last three games and went 3-for-8 with an RBI, a walk and two strikeouts. Rene Pinto will take over behind the plate and bat seventh during Wednesday's regular-season finale.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Remains on bench
Rotowire
Bethancourt will sit for the third straight game Saturday against the Astros, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.
Bethancourt's consecutive days off immediately follow a stretch in which he started three straight games and seven out of 10. Francisco Mejia remains the starter behind the plate Saturday.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Sits second straight
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Bethancourt isn't starting Friday against Houston, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.
Bethancourt will get a second game off after recording a .467 OPS in the past week. Francisco Mejia will start instead behind the dish and bat sixth.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Out of Thursday's lineup
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Bethancourt is not in the lineup for Thursday's game at Cleveland, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.
Bethancourt started the past three games and will take a seat after he went 2-for-11 with an RBI, a run and six strikeouts during that span. Francisco Mejia will step in behind the plate and bat ninth in Thursday's series finale.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Overtakes Mejia on depth chart
Rotowire
Bethancourt will start at catcher and bat seventh in Wednesday's game against the Guardians, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Now behind the plate for the Rays' third consecutive matchup versus a right-handed pitcher, Bethancourt appears to have overtaken Francisco Mejia as manager Kevin Cash's preferred option at catcher. Bethancourt is slashing .310/.310/.552 with three home runs, five doubles, seven runs and six RBI through 18 games in September.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Three hits in Sunday's win
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and an additional run in Sunday's 5-3 win over the Rangers.
Filling in behind the dish for a resting Francisco Mejia, Bethancourt came up big on offense, with his two extra-base knocks matching his output from his previous seven contests combined. For his efforts, Bethancourt will be rewarded with another start at catcher in Monday's series opener with the Astros, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Bethancourt is batting eighth Monday.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Hits 10th homer
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Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Red Sox.
Bethancourt took Eduard Bazardo yard in the sixth inning to tally his 10th home run of the season. That continued his recent binge of power, as he now has five homers across his last 11 starts. Also of note, Bethancourt started at first base over Ji-Man Choi, and he could pick up extra plate appearances moving forward if that usage continues. For the season, Bethancourt has a .240/.275/.403 line across 277 plate appearances.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Slugs ninth homer
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Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and two runs scored Friday against the Yankees.
Bethancourt launched a two-run homer in the seventh inning against Domingo German. He now has nine long balls on the season, four of which have come in his last eight contests. Bethancourt has started seven of the Rays' last 11 games and has maintained a .238/.275/.393 line across 266 plate appearances on the season.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Steals fifth bag
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 0-for-3 with a stolen base in a 3-1 win Tuesday against the Yankees.
Bethancourt reached on an error in the fourth and stole second base. It was his fifth steal in six attempts this season. Since joining the Rays in July, he's posted a .176/.192/.255 line with one homer in 16 games. Thirteen of his 14 starts for Tampa Bay have come behind the plate.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Losing time to Pinto
Rotowire
Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
Bethancourt will sit for the third time in four games and may have slipped behind Rene Pinto on the depth chart at catcher. Since being acquired from the Athletics on July 9 to add depth behind the dish, Bethancourt has batted .160 with one extra-base hit in his first eight games with Tampa Bay.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Not in Saturday's lineup
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Bethancourt isn't starting Saturday against Cleveland, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Bethancourt went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Friday and will be on the bench for the second time in the last three games. Rene Pinto is starting behind the plate and batting ninth.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Gets breather Thursday
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Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Orioles, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.
Bethancourt looks like he'll be option 1A behind the plate for the Rays after Francisco Mejia (shoulder) recently joined Mike Zunino (shoulder) on the injured list, but Bethancourt could still be part of a timeshare at catcher with Rene Pinto, who will get the nod behind the plate in Thursday's series finale. Since being acquired from the Athletics on July 9, Bethancourt has gone 4-for-21 with a home run and a walk through his first seven games with the Rays.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: In line for more playing time
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 1-for-4 on Tuesday against the Orioles.
Bethancourt has been unremarkable since joining the Rays on July 12, collecting only three hits in 17 at-bats. He's been in a near-even split for playing time behind the plate, but Bethancourt will likely see more consistent plate appearances with Francisco Mejia (shoulder) landing on the injured list. Rene Pinto was recalled to serve as the backup catcher.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Slugs first homer with Rays
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run Friday against the Orioles.
Bethancourt wasn't in the starting lineup, but he entered the game in the sixth inning and connected on his first homer with the Rays. He's alternated starts with Francisco Mejia since being formally added to the roster and has collected two hits in seven at-bats. For the season, Bethancourt is hitting .250/.298/.398 across 189 plate appearances, and he should benefit from improved lineup context for the rest of the season.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Formally added to roster
Rotowire
The Rays added Bethancourt to the 26-man active roster ahead of Monday's game against the Red Sox.
The Rays acquired Bethancourt from the Athletics on Saturday, but the team waited a couple days to make a corresponding transaction to create room for him on the active roster. With Rene Pinto heading to Triple-A Durham on Monday, Bethancourt is expected to step in as the No. 2 backstop behind Francisco Mejia while Mike Zunino (shoulder) is on the injured list. The righty-hitting Bethancourt also picked up reps at first base and designated hitter during his time in Oakland and could make starts versus left-handed pitching at either spot for the platoon-happy Rays.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Traded to Tampa Bay
Rotowire
Bethancourt was traded from the Athletics to the Rays on Saturday in exchange for Cal Stevenson and Christian Fernandez, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
It's been quite the year for Bethancourt, who returned to the majors for the first time since 2017 and performed well enough to catch the eye of an organization famous for spotting talent. Bethancourt was a light-hitting catcher for the early part of his career, hitting .222/.252/.316 in 161 games from 2013 to 2017, but he's posted a nearly average 99 wRC+ (the product of a .249/.298/.385 slash line) this season while making the majority of his starts at first base. Catcher is likely where the Rays see Bethancourt fitting in, as Mike Zunino remains out with a shoulder injury. His bat should play better there, and there's reason to believe he'll keep up his solid performance despite his lack of a track record, as his 14.0 percent barrel rate this season is quite strong.
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Athletics' Christian Bethancourt: Hits bench again Sunday
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Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
After going 4-for-30 at the plate with 11 strikeouts over his last eight games, Bethancourt is beginning to see his playing time trend downward. He'll find himself on the bench for the fourth time in seven contests and may need to turn things around quickly to remain a regular in the Oakland lineup.
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Athletics' Christian Bethancourt: Heads to bench
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Bethancourt will sit Friday against the Royals, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
Bethancourt may be falling into a small-side platoon role, as his off day here against Zack Greinke means he's now sat against the last three righties Oakland has faced. That followed a run of five straight starts against righties, however. Sheldon Neuse will be the first baseman Friday.
