Padres place experimental hitter/pitcher Christian Bethancourt on waivers

Bethancourt hit .143 and had a 14.73 ERA in his failed attempt to be a two-way player this season

The San Diego Padres have officially given up on their experiment to turn Christian Bethancourt into a true two-way player.

Tuesday afternoon the club announced Bethancourt has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A, meaning he is no longer on their 40-man roster. The other 29 teams had a chance to claim him and passed.

San Diego brought Bethancourt to spring training with the intention of using him as both a hitter and a pitcher. He is a natural catcher and has outfield experience, and on a few occasions last season the Padres put Bethancourt on the mound in blowouts. Here's some video of him pitching:

Through the team's first 21 games of 2017, Bethancourt went 1 for 7 (.143) at the plate and allowed nine runs (six earned) in 3 2/3 innings on the mound. He walked eight and uncorked two wild pitches as well.

The idea of a true two-way pitcher is awfully fun, and you can understand why teams would look to develop someone like that. Clubs are carrying more relievers than ever before, which means a shorter bench. Find someone who can do both and it's a huge advantage.

Then again, Bethancourt was a fringe big-league player when he devoted all his time to catching. Asking him to pitch on top of that was almost doomed to fail. He was barely good enough at one thing to stick on a roster. How could he realistically be good at both?

It's unclear whether Bethancourt will continue to hit and pitch while in Triple-A, though with the Padres in the middle of a massive rebuild, I see no reason not to try it. Maybe something clicks and Bethancourt can become the ultimate NL bench player. I'd bet against it though.