Bethancourt’s outfield debut delayed

SAN DIEGO — The debut of Christian Bethancourt, outfielder, has been placed on a temporary hold.

Before Friday’s game against the Dodgers, the Padres initially announced a lineup with Bethancourt starting in right field — giving Matt Kemp a breather. It would have been Bethancourt’s first game at a position other than catcher at any professional level. (He signed with Atlanta at age 16.)

But after Bethancourt took some pregame fly balls in right field, manager Andy Green changed his mind, inserting Jose Pirela there instead.

“He hasn’t had much opportunity to work there,” Green said of Bethancourt. “He just needs more time out there. At some point in time, my ideal scenario is it’s a 9-0 game somewhere down the line, and now we’ve got him out in left field to get his feet wet. He feels comfortable, catches a couple baseballs, relaxes.”

Bethancourt, who has played exclusively catcher since his mid-teens, began taking fly balls in the outfield last weekend in Milwaukee. But for the most part, Bethancourt had been working in left field with very few reps in right — a factor Green said went into his decision to make the late lineup switch.

So, why all the effort to get Bethancourt into the outfield in the first place? Well, the Padres …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com