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Can the Padres' Christian Bethancourt really succeed at pitcher and catcher?
Christian Bethancourt will get time at both pitcher and catcher for the San Diego Padres. Lisa Blumenfeld/Rob Foldy/Getty Images

Can the Padres' Christian Bethancourt really succeed at pitcher and catcher?

In Little League, it's extremely common for the best player on the team to be the ace of the pitching staff while also excelling in the field when he's not on the mound. That typically ends as players get older, particularly once they move on from high school ball and head to college or turn pro.

Of course, there are always the Micah Owings of the world, MLB pitchers who find their way into the batting lineup on off days because they can still swing the stick. This is extremely rare, however, and even more rare in the modern era is a baseball player playing both pitcher and taking the field on days he doesn't pitch. Welcome to the Yardbarker roundtable, where we try to make sense of the San Diego Padres' decision to have Christian Bethancourt play both pitcher and, of all positions, catchers in 2017.

What do you think about what the Pads are doing allowing Christian Bethancourt to play both catcher and pitcher? Is this even possible? 

Phillip BarnettBecause this is the Padres, there is no way this is going to work out for either Bethancourt or the Padres.

Matt WhitenerAll jokes aside about the nature of both pitching and catching, the Padres are in the position to give literally anything a try. They are going to be on the outside looking in of the National League West race, and if they can unearth a diamond along the way that can contribute at either spot, it helps their rebuild take better shape. Also, it does provide a reason to talk about the perpetually mediocre Pads, so at the very least its a PR victory.... even if he does lose a misguided fastball that turns into an epic Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado home run along the way.


Christian Bethancourt has intrigued the Padres on the mound this spring. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports

Shiloh CarderHey, when you are the Padres, just try anything. Anything. The Padres' staff is horrible at best so why not have some gimmick to get the good fans in San Diego a reason to head to Petco Park? My only beef is that you'd think that this team that is at the absolute bottom and it could find some young arm to come in and get some experience.

David Matthews: It's an interesting idea and one more managers should think about trying. It's definitely a win-win for the Padres as they can shuffle Bethancourt back to backstop if things don't pan out and have unearthed a reliever if things do. Ultimately though, the most likely scenario is the two-way play having an adverse effect on both parts of his game. But, hey, crazier things have happened.


Christian Bethancourt can always fall back on his catching abilities if his pitching experiment doesn't work out. Jake Roth/USA TODAY Sports

Demetrius BellI love it. It's one of the most interesting individual stories to come down the pike in baseball. From a production standpoint, he'd probably be better off focusing on just one position so he can be the best that he can be at that one position, but let's be real here: It's the Padres. They need something to spice things up as they're currently undergoing a relatively boring rebuild, and what better way to spice things up than to do something that hasn't been considered in the realm of possibility since the old days of baseball? I'm all for it, and I hope he succeeds in at least being decent.

Jamie NealIt's the Padres. Who expects them to do anything that makes any sense? Sure, it's possible, but it feels like a minor league baseball gimmick rather than something that holds any real value. When you're consistently as bad as the Padres are, you got to find some way to bring people to the games. That's far easier than taking a look at the front office and figuring out why it can't seem to produce a consistently decent team, right?

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