The player who was released from NC, ML main catcher this year → WBC representative

Christian Betancourt,바카라사이트 who played for the NC Dinos for a while, but left the team without being able to adapt, emerged as Tampa Bay’s main catcher this season. In addition, Panama will participate in the WBC (World Baseball Classic) as a representative. It is a dislocation of the hip joint.

MLB.com said on the 19th (Korean time), “The 31-year-old Betancourt, who was acquired in a trade with Oakland last July, is expected to be the starting pitcher. Francisco Mejia, a switch hitter, is Betancourt’s backup or platoon partner. Rene Pinto is third catcher. to wait,” he reported.

Regarding the current catcher composition, head coach Kevin Cash expressed satisfaction with the composition of the team, saying, “We have three very good defensive options on the catcher side.”

Bethancourt was released from NC in 2019 with a batting average of 0.246, 8 homers and 29 RBIs in 53 games. He was a rare foreign player who could also catch and defend, but he did not perform as well as expected in batting. Eric Thames-Xavier Scruggs’ consecutive success stories of foreign batters in NC ended at Betancourt.

Bethancourt, who returned to the United States, stayed in the minor leagues for a while. Then he got a chance with Oakland last year, and even after being traded to Tampa Bay, he was able to stay in the major leagues. His season performance is 0.252 batting average, 11 home runs and 34 RBIs in 100 games.

MLB.com said, “A catcher who is hit is a difficult position to find in the major leagues in recent years. There were only 8 teams that recorded 100 (average) or more in wRC+ (adjusted weighted scoring production) at the catcher position in 2022.” After debuting in the major leagues as a promising prospect in Atlanta in 2009, he showed his qualifications as a main catcher nine years later.”

“We were impressed and happy with the progress Betancourt worked through the year. We brought Betancourt after seeing the bat, but he has been working hard to be a really good defender,” said Cathy.

Meanwhile, Bethancourt will also participate as a Panama representative in the WBC next month. Tampa Bay even sent Mejia to the Dominican Republic representative, sending all two of their main catchers to the WBC.

The teams that send two catchers to the WBC are Tampa Bay and the Dodgers (Will Smith USA, Austin Barnes Mexico), Philadelphia (JT Realmuto USA, Garrett Stubbs Israel) and Kansas City (Salvador Perez Venezuela, MJ Melendez Puerto Rico). fold.