The last we heard from San Diego Padres catcher-turned-reliever Christian Bethancourt, he was outrighted to Triple-A El Paso following a handful of horrible appearances. Bethancourt hasn't fared much better in the time since. He entered Tuesday having allowed 14 hits and 10 runs, all the while walking nine and striking out just four.
But Bethancourt's failures aren't stopping other teams from moving their own struggling hitters to the mound. Consider the cases of Anthony Gose and Brett Eibner.
Gose, 26, made his professional pitching debut on Monday for the Detroit Tigers' high Class A affiliate in Lakeland, Florida. He threw an inning and departed with a statline featuring a lot of ones: one hit, one run, one walk and one strikeout.
The most notable statistic of the night, however, might've been the velocity reading from Gose's first pitch: 99 mph.
Anthony Gose making his debut pitching with our @LkdFlyingTigers. First pitch 99mph. @tigers @DetroitTigersPR @gose pic.twitter.com/wHkxJEZSPq
— Dan Lauer (@Dan_Lauer41) May 23, 2017
Always a talented center fielder, Gose seldom showed enough stick to demand an everyday role during his parts of five big-league seasons. If he has taken his final big-league swing as a position player, he'll finish that phase of his career with marks of .240/.309/.348 (an 82 OPS+)
It's worth noting that Gose is the one who approached the Tigers about making the switch. He was a talented two-way player as an amateur.
While Gose's transition to the mound is on a permanent basis, Eibner's experiment with the Los Angeles Dodgers is more about situational value -- at least for the time. Here's what the Los Angeles Times reported earlier in the week:
This isn't just about a position player saving the bullpen in a blowout. Eibner has thrown several bullpen sessions at Dodger Stadium and at Oklahoma City, working on building arm strength and developing secondary pitches to accompany a fastball he said hit 95 mph in college.
Eibner is expected to remain an outfielder first and foremost -- presumably, in part, because he has shown more offensive potential than the likes of Bethancourt and Gose. In his Triple-A career, he has hit .279/.352/.473. He also enjoyed some success in a small sample with the Dodgers, though his upside as a hitter seems to be that of a reserve or platoon outfielder.
We'll see if either Gose or Eibner can succeed. Here's hoping -- for the sake of them and intrigue.
