Padres keep using catcher Christian Bethancourt as relief pitcher
The San Diego Padres are not having a good season. They’re last in their division, they have the fourth most losses in baseball, and they keep losing games by big, big margins. At the end of May, they lost a game to the Mariners so badly that they had their catcher and noted non-pitcher Christian Bethancourt take the mound.
On Monday night the Padres played the Miami Marlins, and after the Marlins scored seven runs in the third inning, it looked like it was going to be One Of Those Games. And once the Marlins scored another four runs in the fifth, it definitely was that kind of game. Down 13-4, Padres’ manager Andy Green decided to go to his trusted non-pitcher reliever, Christian Bethancourt.
In his last outing on May 31, Bethancourt showed off an impressive arsenal of pitches, ranging from a 54 mph eephus to a 94 mph fastball. Well in Monday’s appearance, Bethancourt actually improved on that range. To the first batter he faced, Chris Johnson, Bethancourt threw a 49 mph knuckleball that was down and in off the plate, and followed that with a 93 mph fastball that Johnson fouled off. That’s a 44 mph difference in just two pitches!
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Here’s that spectacular 49 mph eephus that’s becoming Bethancourt’s trademark pitch:
The best part of that is at the end when catcher Hector Sanchez looks at the ball in his glove, almost like he’s saying “Are you serious right now, baseball?” And then when Sanchez throws the ball back to the mound, Bethancourt can’t help but give a little smile that says “Yeah, I’ve got this handled.”
He did have it handled. He got Johnson to fly out, and then got Brian Ellington out on a called third strike after the count was 3-2. Bethancourt did allow a walk and a single, but he got Derek Dietrich to fly out on three pitches.
Position players pitching isn’t supposed to be a normal thing that happens. But Bethancourt definitely has the stuff to hack it every now and then if the Padres need him. And judging by the way things have been going, they’ll probably need him again before the season’s over.
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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher
