The Blue Jays declared Today that they had signed minor league contracts with left-hander Richard Lovelady and catcher Christian Bethancourt. During spring training, both players have been invited to major league camp.

As recently as 2022, Bethancourt, 33, had a respectable performance at the plate, hitting 11 home runs in 101 games between the A’s and Rays while slashing.252/.283/.409 (99 wRC+). With a combined.220/.250/.377 between Tampa Bay, Miami, and Chicago (Cubs), his bat has subsequently collapsed.

Bethancourt was once ranked among the top 100 prospects in the game, but he has never quite established himself as a big league regular. After trying to reinvent himself as a reliever, he stopped catching completely, but he has now been back behind the plate for a number of years. In the major leagues, he had a lifetime.229/.259/.367 batting average.

Even while that offense—or lack thereof—leaves much room for improvement, Bethancourt’s rocket arm, which scored 80 points on the 20-80 scale when he was a prospect, has allowed him to dominate the running game very effectively. Following changes to the size of the bases and restrictions on pickoff attempts, Bethancourt has performed exceptionally well since the league’s average caught-stealing rate has decreased to just 20.3%. Last year, he stopped 30% of attempts to steal bases from him. Bethancourt has a gaudy 29.9% caught-stealing statistic that dates back to 2022. According to Statcast, among catchers, only J.T. Realmuto, Patrick Bailey, and Gabriel Moreno have added more value with their throwing during the previous four seasons.

In Toronto, Bethancourt will not be considered for the starting position. Alejandro Kirk is the owner of that. However, journeyman Tyler Heineman, who has a.212/.298/.273 slash in 299 major league plate appearances, is now the only other catcher on the Jays’ 40-man roster. Although it remains to be seen if the Jays will acquire a more seasoned veteran to secure that crucial position, Bethancourt may be in the running for that position. Currently, if Kirk were injured, Toronto’s top alternatives behind the kitchen would be Heineman, Bethancourt, or fellow non-roster invitee Ali Sanchez, according to manager John Schneider.

The 29-year-old Lovelady pitched fairly effectively for the Rays but struggled with the Cubs during the 2024 season. Despite having a poor strikeout percentage of 16.8%, the southpaw pitched 28 2/3 innings of 3.77 ERA ball for Tampa Bay. However, Lovelady’s 53.5% ground-ball rate and 7.6% walk rate were both impressive statistics. The left-hander has long had a unique combination of missed bats and grounders to go along with good command.

Lovelady was cut loose in November despite having a respectable performance with Tampa Bay. The Rays sought to shield outfielder Jake Mangum from the Rule 5 Draft, so they designated him for assignment to free up roster space for him. Lovelady became a free agent right away when he was non-tendered rather than traded or placed on waivers.

Lovelady has a strikeout rate of 21.1%, walk rate of 8.4%, and grounder rate of 50.9% in 99 1/3 big league innings. Although his 66% strand rate has contributed significantly to his 4.98 earned run average, analytics such as SIERA (4.02) and xFIP (4.27) have been more optimistic than ERA. He will now attempt to make an impression in Toronto, where the 40-man roster only has the untested Josh Walker, Easton Lucas, and Brendan Little as lefty relievers. Although Adam Macko, a prospect, also throws left-handed, the Jays believe he will be a part of the rotation in the future.