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.
Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Avoids arbitration with Tampa
Rotowire
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.
Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Not starting Wednesday
Rotowire
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
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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: Homers in blowout win
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and three RBI in Tuesday's 11-1 win over the Angels.
Bethancourt launched a solo homer off Jesse Chavez in the bottom of the seventh inning before ripping a two-run single later in the frame. The catcher has now gone deep in three straight starts and eight times this season overall. Since the beginning of August, Bethancourt has batted .270 with three home runs, five RBI, seven runs and a stolen base over 37 at-bats in 11 games.
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Rays' Christian Bethancourt: Slugs sixth homer
Rotowire
Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored Thursday against the Royals.
Bethancourt took Josh Staumont yard in the eighth inning to record his sixth homer of the season. It was only his second home run since joining the Rays on July 11, and he has a poor .200/.214/.327 slash line across 55 at-bats with his new team. Bethancourt has lost out on some playing time since the return of Francisco Mejia, but he has still been in the lineup for six of the team's last 12 games.
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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
Rotowire
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.
