Bryant Betancourt

Bryant Osneiber Betancourt

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 170 lbs.

• Born October 12, 2003 in Valencia, Carabobo Venezuela

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Valencia-born Bryant Betancourt was signed a few months after his 17th birthday as an international amateur free agent by the Colorado Rockies organization on January 15, 2021. He was assigned to DSL Colorado of the Dominican Summer League, where he spent about two-thirds of his time at first base and the other third catching. Behind the plate, he gunned down exactly half of would-be base thieves (7 of 14) and had a .982 fielding percentage at first base. He slashed .262/.357/.374 and drove in 14 runs. He walked more than he struck out (17 bases on balls against 12 punch outs), collected 40 total bases (5 doubles, 2 triples, and 1 home run), and chipped in with 2 sacrifice bunts and 4 sac flies.

He remained in the DSL for 2022 and his offensive production in his age 18 season was markedly improved. A .355/.462/.674 slash line was fueled by a vast improvement in power production - 11 doubles and 11 round-trippers - and he again drew more bases on balls that strikeouts, 27 walks against 21 K's. He played 18 games as a catcher, where he threw out 34% of base stealers (nabbing 11 of 32) and 9 games at first base, where he did not make an error. He also DH'ed 17 times.

The Rockies moved him up to the Class A Fresno Grizzlies of the California League for the 2023 season. He again split time between catching (43 games), first base (31 games), and designated hitter (27 games). His slash line fell just short of taking a nose dive, as he ended the year at .244/.325/.327. This was his first pro season in which his strikeout total exceeded his number of bases on balls - he punched out 74 times against 43 walks, but he was also hit by 7 pitches. He did hit 19 doubles and drove in 57 runs, though. He nabbed only 7 of the 39 who tried to steal against him (18%).

His performance was still good enough for the Rockies to advance him to High-A ball for 2024. In 110 games for the Spokane Indians, 65 of them were behind the plate, 32 were at first base, and 10 of them were as the DH. While there were more base runners who tried to steal against him than the previous year (90), he caught 31% of them (28), a much improved number from the previous season in Fresno. Offensively, he put up similar numbers, but with a higher OPS - .238/.316/.376. He not only found his power stroke again, but his home park - Avista Stadium - is pretty hitter-friendly, especially for lefties. However, 4 of his 12 doubles and 4 of his 12 home runs were on the road. He also showed some base stealing ability, swiping 15 bags while being caught 5 times - he had stolen 3 bases in his previous three seasons with 5 caught stealings. He also successfully laid down 6 sacrifice bunts, which also exceeded his previous career total of 5.