Christian Bethancourt designated for assignment by Marlins

[Kevin Barral]

Not even halfway through the season, the Miami Marlins are moving on from the veteran catcher as first reported late Thursday night.

Per MLB.com's Christina De Nicola, the Miami Marlins will be designating catcher Christian Bethancourt for assignment. This season (his first with the Marlins organization), the 32-year-old was slashing .159/.198/.268/.466 with two home runs and seven RBIs. Although not yet confirmed, it is likely that recently acquired Ali Sánchez will step into Bethancourt's backup role beginning on Friday.

When the Marlins acquired Bethancourt from the Cleveland Guardians, they were expecting him to limit base-stealers and provide help offensively, at least in comparison to Jacob Stallings. He ranked in the 80th percentile of caught stealing above average and 82nd percentile of pop time, per Baseball Savant.

There was hope that Bethancourt could get back to being his 2022 self when he posted a 100 wRC+. Instead, he began the 2024 regular season with a month-long hitless streak and was putting up the worst season of his career at the time of this DFA news. He was on pace for career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and wRC+. The production just wasn't there.

Per ZiPS, Bethancourt was projected to finish with a slash line of .210/.247/.348 with seven home runs, 24 RBIs and a 67 wRC+. If allowed to remain on the roster, the Marlins would have non-tendered him after the season anyway.

On Wednesday, the Marlins traded for Chicago Cubs Triple-A catcher Ali Sánchez. He briefly played in the majors (seven total games) in 2020 and 2021.

Sánchez got off to a hot start this season, slashing .324/.432/.541/.972 with one home run and 11 RBIs in the month of April, but since then has slashed .207/.298/.326/.624 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. Overall, he is slashing .240/.338/.388/.725 with three home runs, 21 RBIs and a 91 wRC+. His plate discipline is encouraging with a 12.2% walk rate and low 18.9% strikeout rate. Sánchez is also significantly younger than Bethancourt (age 27). Expect Nick Fortes to continue starting the majority of Miami's games.

Although Bethancourt underperformed for the Marlins, he was liked within the clubhouse and had some solid moments on defense. Earning a $2.05M salary this season, he's unlikely to be claimed off waivers. There is a chance he may sign with another organization on a minor league deal once he enters free agency.

View full article