Padres Press Clips Friday, November 18, 2016 Article Source Author Page Lane: Bethancourt can succeed as pitcher/hitter hybrid MLB.om Cassavell 2 Padres have options to fill second-base role Padres.com Center 5 1
Lane: Bethancourt can succeed as pitcher/hitter hybrid Former Padre played outfield before moving to the mound By AJ Cassavell / MLB.com @AJCassavell November 17th, 2016 SAN DIEGO -- No doubt, the Padres' offseason plans for Christian Bethancourt are ambitious. A lifelong catcher, Bethancourt is slated to play winter ball in his native Panama, as he begins his transition to an unprecedented utility role. Bethancourt will spend time at catcher, he'll spend time in the outfield, and -- here's where things get interesting -- he's going to pitch. Count former Friar Jason Lane among those who believe the Padres' plan can work. And Lane would know better than most. In 2002, Lane broke into the big leagues as an outfielder. He batted.241/.314/.457 in seven seasons with Houston, but struggled at the end of his tenure. Lane toiled away in the Minor Leagues until '12, when he transitioned to the mound. In 2014, Lane returned to the big leagues with the Padres. He made three appearances -- one start -- and allowed one run over 10 1/3 innings. At the Major League level, Lane never got the chance to serve in Bethancourt's super-utility role. But he did so in the Minors and feels it can translate. "I think it's definitely feasible," Lane, now the assistant hitting coach for the Brewers, told MLB.com. "It takes the right mentality, and it takes the right abilities.... But absolutely it's doable, especially when you have velocity like that. It's definitely intriguing." Twice this year, Bethancourt entered in mop-up duty, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. His season ended in August when he suffered an oblique strain, but he began throwing bullpen sessions upon his recovery. Bethancourt's fastball sits in the mid-90s, and his changeup is reportedly progressing faster than expected. He's learning a slider, too, but that pitch remains in its infancy. "He's a different deal than what I had, because he's got that velocity," Lane said. "He has some room for error, where you don't have to be as fine.... If he can hone that in, he's got some power as a right-handed 2
hitter off the bench. You've got a weapon there.... In the National League, it adds huge flexibility to your roster." That's exactly what the Padres were going for when they approached Bethancourt with the idea in September. He was very receptive to it, but his pitching mechanics needed to be fine-tuned. In Lane's eyes, that's where things get tricky. Most Major League pitchers get years of seasoning. And learning to pitch isn't exactly something you can cram for. "If you don't already have a good feel for pitching, you can only work on it so much per day," Lane said. "... You only have so many bullets." After a handful of bullpen sessions, the Padres gave Bethancourt the OK to pitch for Caballos de Cocle in Panama. In coordination with the Padres, Caballos devised a plan for his usage, which includes catching, playing the outfield and pitching. "The hardest part for me, initially, was recovery," Lane said. "It took me like a full year to figure out the right routine for my arm to recover. Once I got through my first full season of that, then I was good to go. Then it actually made me better as a hitter. Having pitched for a full year, now you know both sides of it." Lane understands the perceived downside. Hitting is tough enough on its own. Pitching is tough enough on its own. Both? Seemingly impossible. Not in Lane's eyes. In fact, he claims that understanding how to pitch ultimately made him better at the plate. With Triple-A El Paso in 2014, Lane finished 9-9 with a 4.52 ERA, while batting.362, mostly as a pinch-hitter. "I don't think one took away from the other at all," Lane said. "I could've absolutely done it, and I probably could've done it earlier in my career. It just seemed like, 'There's no way it could be done at the big league level. You have to be one or the other.' 3
"If you're an All-Star caliber position player hitting in the middle of the lineup, I don't think they're going to mess around.... But if it's a utility-type guy, it's definitely possible. It just takes a unique player who's wanting and willing to do it." Is Bethancourt that kind of unique player? The Padres believe he is. It won't be long until they find out. 4
Padres have options to fill second-base role Schimpf, Spangenberg, Asuaje could step up in 2017 By Bill Center / San Diego Padres November 17th, 2016 Who plays at second base will be one of the Padres' biggest questions to answer next spring. It is not for a shortage of candidates. The Padres actually have three -- Ryan Schimpf, Cory Spangenberg and Carlos Asuaje -- for the position. Each has a plus, but each also came out of the 2016 season with some unanswered questions. Additionally, the most interesting second baseman in the Padres' system is still a year or two away. That would be Luis Urias, who was both the Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year for the Class A Advanced California League in '16 at age 19. Here is a closer look at the Padres' second-base candidates: Schimpf As astounding as Schimpf's Major League debut was last summer at the age of 28, questions remain about whether the production is sustainable. And as impressive as some of Schimpf's numbers were, there were also holes in his game. Schimpf had never spent a full season at Triple-A when the Padres signed him as a Minor League free agent last winter. After a strong start with Triple-A El Paso (.355 average, 15 homers, 48 RBIs in 51 games), Schimpf got his first call to the Major Leagues on June 14. In 89 games and 276 at-bats with the Padres, Schimpf hit 20 homers and drove in 51 runs. Forty-two of his 60 hits went for extra bases, giving Schimpf a.533 slugging percentage. Among players with 25 or more hits, Schimpf's 69.5 percent ratio of extra-base hits was the highest in the Major Leagues. Only one Padre second baseman has ever hit more homers in a season, and Schimpf is only the third player in Padres history to hit more than 20 homers as a rookie -- and, remember, his rookie season didn't start until the Padres' 66th game. Plus, Schimpf draws walks -- 42 to be exact for an on-base percentage of.336. But he also hit only.217 and had 105 strikeouts in 276 at-bats. He was an all-or-nothing producer in the style of Mark Reynolds. Teams with high on-base percentage players elsewhere in the lineup have successfully deployed a 5
Schimpf-style player deep in their lineup. The problem is that the Padres aren't really a strong on-base percentage team. Defensively, Schimpf was adequate at second, particularly when playing in short right during the Padres' shifts. He seemed more at home at third when playing there while Yangervis Solarte was absent. Asuaje Acquired with center fielder Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra and left-handed pitcher Logan Allen on Nov. 13, 2015, in the four-for-one trade that sent closer Craig Kimbrel to Boston, the 25-yearold left-handed hitter was ranked the No. 21 prospect in MLBPipeline's midseason ratings last summer. After an award-winning season with Triple-A El Paso, Asuaje was promoted to the Padres and went 5-for-24 in seven late-season games. Before that, Asuaje was named the Pacific Coast League Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-PCL postseason team that earned the PCL title. Before his Sept. 21 promotion to the Padres, Asuaje hit.321 for El Paso with 32 doubles, 11 triples and nine homers for 69 RBIs. He led all Triple-A players with 172 hits and tied Margot for the PCL lead with 98 runs scored. Spangenberg Remember, Spangenberg was the Padres' starting second baseman at the start of the 2016 season and is only 25. The left-handed hitter has speed and great range. However, he missed the rest of the season after suffering a strained quad on April 19. Spangenberg has a history of injuries and was hitting only.229. But Padres fans remember the end of the 2015 season, when he hit.271 with a.333 on-base percentage and four homers in 108 games (303 at-bats). He is very athletic, and his play around the bag was improving when he was injured. Prospects A line-drive hitter to all fields with a very low strikeout rate, Urias ranks as one of the Padres' Top 30 prospects. The right-handed-hitting Urias batted.330 with a.397 on-base percentage for Lake Elsinore last season while drawing more walks (40) than strikeouts (36). 6
Urias will not be a power hitter and doesn't steal a lot of bases, but he is athletic around the bag and has plus instincts. Another young prospect to watch is Eguy Rosario. The right-handed hitter came to the Arizona Rookie League late last summer after hitting.341 in the Dominican Summer League with a.421 on-base percentage and 21 steals in 53 games. He went 11-for-29 with seven walks in seven games in Arizona. Looking ahead, there is also the possibility that the Padres will move one or more of their young shortstops to another position. 7