Welcome back to the 2015 Last Word on Fantasy Baseball Guide. Over the next several months we will be releasing player profiles, projections, position rankings, and a number of other articles that will help you dominate your fantasy league this season. Whether you play rotisserie or head-to-head; whether you have a standard draft, a snake or an auction league, and whether its keeper league or a one-year deal; we have all the fantasy information you need.
For the rest of our fantasy baseball profiles and articles, please check out our Fantasy Baseball Guide Page.
Fantasy Profile: Christian Bethancourt, C, Atlanta Braves
Pos Rank 25, Captains Value $0.36
Christian Bethancourt is expected to be the full time catcher for Gonzales and Co in 2015.
We don’t have much of a major league track record for Bethancourt as he got his first taste with the big leagues just last year with only 117 plate appearances. And oh boy it was not pretty. A .248/.274/.274 slash line, zero homers, a 22.2% K rate and a 2.6% BB rate, Bethancourt will most certainly be looking to improve those numbers in 2015.
There is some hope though. In 388 plate appearances with AA Mississippi in 2013 he slugged .436 with 12 homers. In 2014 with AAA Gwinnet he slugged .408 with eight homers in 365 plate appearances. The power was there in the minors but it’s yet to be shown at the major league level.
Ultimately though, I believe his poor plate discipline will hurt him in the long run. Similar to his power in the minors, Bethancourt displayed poor plate discipline numbers as well. It is extremely hard to succeed at the highest level when you post well below average BB and K percentages. Pitchers and catchers will exploit you and Bethancourt will have to adjust his approach if he wants to continue playing in the big leagues. Standard leagues should take a wait and see approach with this young man.
| Year | Team | Pos | G | PA | AB | R | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | SLG | OBP | OPS |
| 2011 | DET | C | 141 | 551 | 464 | 63 | 19 | 82 | 3 | 73 | 131 | 0.295 | 0.506 | 0.389 | 0.895 |
| 2012 | DET | C | 116 | 434 | 367 | 42 | 9 | 48 | 2 | 61 | 104 | 0.243 | 0.384 | 0.352 | 0.736 |
| 2013 | DET | C | 102 | 379 | 330 | 39 | 11 | 47 | 0 | 44 | 112 | 0.227 | 0.376 | 0.317 | 0.693 |
| 2014 | DET | C | 124 | 457 | 390 | 44 | 11 | 47 | 0 | 61 | 151 | 0.218 | 0.359 | 0.327 | 0.686 |
| 2015 Projection | DET | C | 450 | 386 | 43 | 11 | 47 | 1 | 59 | 135 | 0.228 | 0.332 | 0.375 | 0.707 |
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**All stats courtesy of Fangraphs
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