The odd career of Christian Bethancourt

[Illustrious Potentate]

I didn’t know this dude was still in baseball until I just checked out the matchups for tonight’s Braves-A’s game

This dude went from top prospect and catcher of the future in the Braves system to being a bust and traded to San Diego for a case of balls, where he still struggled at and beind the plate, moved to the OF where he still struggled, converted into a reliever where he was never good either, then disappears for 5 and years and has now re-emerged as possibly the worst first baseman in the Majors for Oakland.

I know about Rick Ankiel, but are their any more players with strange career paths? I find stuff like that interesting. This seems like your wheelhouse @DragonFromTo

 

[Fish]

I didn’t know this dude was still in baseball until I just checked out the matchups for tonight’s Braves-A’s game

This dude went from top prospect and catcher of the future in the Braves system to being a bust and traded to San Diego for a case of balls, where he still struggled at and beind the plate, moved to the OF where he still struggled, converted into a reliever where he was never good either, then disappears for 5 and years and has now re-emerged as possibly the worst first baseman in the Majors for Oakland.

I know about Rick Ankiel, but are their any more players with strange career paths? I find stuff like that interesting. This seems like your wheelhouse @DragonFromTo

I'll just use this thread to say Rick Ankiel made the best throw from the outfield in major league history.

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

I'll just use this thread to say Rick Ankiel made the best throw from the outfield in major league history.

I’ll take this one:



Ankiel’s was assisted by high altitude in Denver

 

[Fish]

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

I’d take this one over Ankiel’s



Those early 00’s Oakland team had terrible base running

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

Terrance Gore is another odd career. Been around since 2014. Only has 67 career ABs. Has two real WS rings and a Mickey Mouse ring because teams call him up to be a pinch runner in the playoffs. 2015 Royals, 2021 Braves for the real rings. 2020 Dodgers for the Mickey Mouse ring

 

[DragonFromTo]

I didn’t know this dude was still in baseball until I just checked out the matchups for tonight’s Braves-A’s game

This dude went from top prospect and catcher of the future in the Braves system to being a bust and traded to San Diego for a case of balls, where he still struggled at and beind the plate, moved to the OF where he still struggled, converted into a reliever where he was never good either, then disappears for 5 and years and has now re-emerged as possibly the worst first baseman in the Majors for Oakland.

I know about Rick Ankiel, but are their any more players with strange career paths? I find stuff like that interesting. This seems like your wheelhouse @DragonFromTo

Right away I thought of Anthony Gose who is having some success right now in the Guardians bullpen after failing to cut it as an outfielder for a few teams. He threw hard off the mound in high school and some teams wanted him there from the start.

Anthony Gose Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Anthony Gose. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

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There are a decent number of hitters who have switched to pitching, I think if there's any question with a prospect that teams probably (correctly, I believe) think that pitching is the easier of the two skills to fall back on. "Just play CF/SS for a couple years and if you don't figure out how to hit you'll still have 95+ in that arm".

Fewer have gone the other way and became hitters like Ankiel did. Lefty O'Doul is one fun old name that did it

Lefty O'Doul Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Lefty O'Doul. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

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Smoky Joe Wood wasn't very good as an outfielder but he did it. But these are very old timey guys

Smoky Joe Wood Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Smoky Joe Wood. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

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I would add that I am specifically trying to think of guys who did one and then the other, not a guy like Stan Musial who pitched in the minors but switched to hitting early when he hurt his arm and before he'd exhausted his pitching abilities.

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

Right away I thought of Anthony Gose who is having some success right now in the Guardians bullpen after failing to cut it as an outfielder for a few teams. He threw hard off the mound in high school and some teams wanted him there from the start.

Anthony Gose Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Anthony Gose. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

There are a decent number of hitters who have switched to pitching, I think if there's any question with a prospect that teams probably (correctly, I believe) think that pitching is the easier of the two skills to fall back on. "Just play CF/SS for a couple years and if you don't figure out how to hit you'll still have 95+ in that arm".

Fewer have gone the other way and became hitters like Ankiel did. Lefty O'Doul is one fun old name that did it

Lefty O'Doul Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Lefty O'Doul. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

Smoky Joe Wood wasn't very good as an outfielder but he did it. But these are very old timey guys

Smoky Joe Wood Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of Smoky Joe Wood. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com

www.baseball-reference.com

I would add that I am specifically trying to think of guys who did one and then the other, not a guy like Stan Musial who pitched in the minors but switched to hitting early when he hurt his arm and before he'd exhausted his pitching abilities.

I didn’t know Gose was back in the Majors, much less as a pitcher

 

[DragonFromTo]

I didn’t know Gose was back in the Majors, much less as a pitcher

Yep, high 90s from the left hand side, he's no sideshow

 

[BigRedMoe]

Terrance Gore is another odd career. Been around since 2014. Only has 67 career ABs. Has two real WS rings and a Mickey Mouse ring because teams call him up to be a pinch runner in the playoffs. 2015 Royals, 2021 Braves for the real rings. 2020 Dodgers for the Mickey Mouse ring

He's the younger, less talented Jarrod Dyson.

 

[Kburjr]

Kind of a different career path. Terry Ryan. Drafted by Twins, did decent starting in the minors. First full year was 10-0 with 1.73 ERA in 1973. Battled injuries, was cut and he went back to college. Eventually ended up as the GM for the Twins

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

He's the younger, less talented Jarrod Dyson.

He must not be too good in the field, you’d think he’d be able to spend more time on a big league regular season roster as a pinch run/defensive sub role, especially with the DH in both leagues now and bench depth not being as important

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

Then you also have the Hayden Hurst/Brandon Weeden/Chris Weinke minor league washout types that went on to have successful college football careers and spend significant time in the NFL

 

[Kburjr]

Then you also have the Hayden Hurst/Brandon Weeden/Chris Weinke minor league washout types that went on to have successful college football careers and spend significant time in the NFL

Add Russell Wilson

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

Add Russell Wilson

Was he an older CFB player? I thought he was drafted by an MLB team out of college? Weinke and Weeden were in their late 20’s when they entered the NFL, and Hurst was 24 his last year of CFB. Lots of players have been drafted in both leagues. Tom Glavine is the only player to be drafted in both the MLB and NHL draft as far as I know

 

[BigRedMoe]

He must not be too good in the field, you’d think he’d be able to spend more time on a big league regular season roster as a pinch run/defensive sub role, especially with the DH in both leagues now and bench depth not being as important

He's a career .224 hitter but has 40 SBs.
He actually wasn't on our 2015 WS roster but was on the ALDS and ALCS rosters and got a ring for those contributions. Think he got called up in the latter part of the season.

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

He's a career .224 hitter but has 40 SBs.
He actually wasn't on our 2015 WS roster but was on the ALDS and ALCS rosters and got a ring for those contributions. Think he got called up in the latter part of the season.

He was only on the NLDS roster for us last year, still got a ring for his one AB. I don’t think he was ever on the regular season roster last year

 

[Kburjr]

Was he an older CFB player? I thought he was drafted by an MLB team out of college? Weinke and Weeden were in their late 20’s when they entered the NFL, and Hurst was 24 his last year of CFB. Lots of players have been drafted in both leagues. Tom Glavine is the only player to be drafted in both the MLB and NHL draft as far as I know

He transferred to Wisc mainly because NCST coached refused to let him continue his minor league career

 

[Illustrious Potentate]

He transferred to Wisc mainly because NCST coached refused to let him continue his minor league career

There was a player drafted by the Blue Jays probably 7 years ago that played for their minor league system and also played CFB at Southern Miss. I don’t remember his name.

I didn’t know Wilson played CFB and minor league baseball at the same time. That’s pretty cool.

Weinke spent 6 years in the minors before giving up on baseball and going to Florida State and winning a natty and spending several years as a backup QB in the NFL

 

[DragonFromTo]

There was a player drafted by the Blue Jays probably 7 years ago that played for their minor league system and also played CFB at Southern Miss. I don’t remember his name.

I didn’t know Wilson played CFB and minor league baseball at the same time. That’s pretty cool.

Weinke spent 6 years in the minors before giving up on baseball and going to Florida State and winning a natty and spending several years as a backup QB in the NFL

You guys all forgot that Mike Ditka's bride was a Muck Dog the summer before he won the Heisman

Ricky Williams Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

All Professional Baseball Statistics for Ricky Williams.

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