Bethancourt savors long-awaited homer
With baseball paused in 2020 amid the pandemic, Christian Bethancourt took a swing in a different arena — partnering with his brotherin-law to buy a farm in his native country of Panama.
“I grew up in Panama City, pretty much a downtown area,” said Bethancourt, the Oakland Athletics’ backup catcher and first baseman. “But I’ve always been a fan of, I’ll say, wildlife . ... We took the risk. And it’s like every other business, right? You take the risk and you make it grow.”
The 17-acre farm is in Aguadulce, about 90 minutes outside Panama City, said Bethancourt. They raise cattle for meat and dairy, he said, and a river on one edge lets them grow fruits, root vegetables and sugar cane.
“I’ve been there multiple times — I haven’t really worked on it,” Bethancourt said. “But I can see myself eventually building a house nearby, or in there, and just going from there.”
For now, Bethancourt, 30, is still occupied with baseball. Once a top catching prospect, he’s well beyond that but seeing his first chance in years at major-league playing time with the A’s.
On Wednesday, Bethancourt hit his first major-league home run since 2016. For perspective, he’d more recently given up a major-league home run, in 2017, when the Padres tried to make him a pitcher.
With a strong arm and powerful swing, Bethancourt was a top-10 prospect in Atlanta’s system as early as 2010. He reached the majors in 2013 at age 22 and played in 80 games for the Braves across three seasons, but batted .219 and didn’t become the fulltime catcher some predicted.
Dealt to the Padres, Bethancourt hit .228 with six homers in 73 games in 2016. He also pitched a couple of times in mopup duty, and in 2017, the Padres tried using him as a reliever.
“I was throwing 94, 95” mph, Bethancourt said. “I just couldn’t throw strikes. It was hard. And they had me trying to learn how to pitch in the big leagues, which was super hard. … When I was actually trying to throw strikes, I was getting hit — hard. Because I didn’t throw anything except fastballs.”
Bethancourt was sent to Triple-A for most of the 2017 season. He spent 2018 at Triple-A with the Brewers — as a primary catcher again — and hit .297 but didn’t get a callup. He played in South Korea in 2019 and was waived after 53 games. Minor-league deals with the Phillies and Pirates the next two years didn’t yield an opportunity.
“At some point, I was like, maybe I’m never going to go back to the big leagues,” Bethancourt said. “But I never put my head down. I’m a very positive person. I’m a believer that there’s always going to be another opportunity. You strike out three times today, but tomorrow, if you’re in the lineup, that’s your other chance.”
A minor-league deal and strong spring preceded Bethancourt being added as a substitute player by the A’s in April. He has since remained on the roster, entering Friday with a .229 average in 34 games.
That he first homered in his 103rd plate appearance was surprising. His batting practices are impressive, such that pitcher Cole Irvin joked after Bethancourt ended his drought Wednesday: “It’s about time.”
Bethancourt had last homered in the majors on Aug. 12, 2016. On Wednesday, Bethancourt took Justin Verlander deep. He said it was “definitely a great feeling … especially off a guy that’s a future Hall of Famer.”