Click to watch exclusive interview with Bettencourt

Trevor Bettencourt is a Right Handed pitcher in the Dodgers organization that has seen just about everything the game of baseball has to offer. He’s been in the biggest of moments and loves to have the ball when it matters the most.

He’s very good, extremely tough, remarkably reliable, and he’s still chasing his dream, one that is just around the corner. 

Saint Francis

Bettencourt grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and had a standout Prep career at Saint Francis High School as a Lancer. He lost just 2 games in his entire career as a pitcher on the diamond, and had 86 Ks in just 60 innings pitched his Senior year, and also played the infield and was very good at that too.  

His great efforts earned him several different honors including being designated as a High Follow in the Perfect Game rankings, and highlighted by becoming the 2012 WCAL Pitcher of the Year.

But that’s all the stuff you’d expect from a professional pitcher that has made it as high as AAA with two different organizations. What you might not expect, however, was that he also played water polo, a sport that was very challenging and kept him in top top shape

The young Bay native definitely stayed busy and became a very well rounded athlete as a Lancer, and one that was very accomplished both on the diamond and in the pool.

He has very fond memories of that time in his life and especially appreciates the impact that Mike Oakland, his Head baseball coach, had on him.

Oakland is a very successful Head Coach that has won multiple Titles in multiple sports and is known for running very efficient programs.

Playing for Oakland was awesome. He came from Santa Clara and so our practices were like college practices the way they were written out and played out. So, it was awesome and I learned a lot from him as far as baseball IQ.

With a typical Trevor Bettencourt grin, he went on to talk about his Water Polo career.

I’ve always said that if football was a hard sport, it would be called Water Polo, and I will stick by that. I took my Junior year off and I missed it because it got me in such good shape. I had fun and made a lot of good friends and I miss it sometimes. 

College Grind

Bettencourt was a well sought after recruit and ended up at Tennessee where he spent his first two years. After a good Sophomore campaign as s Volunteer where he posted an ERA of just 2.93 in 20 appearances, he was forced to undergo what would be the first of two Tommy John surgeries he has had to overcome in his career.

That’s when he decided to move back closer to home and transfer to UCSB, a decision that couldn’t have been more perfect.

Andrew Checketts, the Head Baseball Coach at Santa Barbara, took Bettencourt in and gave him opportunity, mentorship and an overall experience that Bettencourt couldn’t be more grateful for.  

I was transferring schools after having Tommy John and still recovering, and he gave me another shot. It’s not like I was the easiest to deal with you know, but he gave me every shot in the world and he pushed me, so without Coach Checketts I wouldn’t be playing right now.

So whether I’m playing well or not, he’s taught me a lot of baseball and he helped me out a ton, so it’s awesome. 

Bettencourt made the most of those opportunities, and in 2016 he helped his team reach the College World Series. That was after winning the Vanderbilt regional, then the Louisville Super Regional, so, as he said, those Gauchos were confident and they were tough, and they were on a mission.

Bettencourt recorded some of the most crucial outs in both the Regional Tournament and the Super Regional and remembers the mayhem that took place when his teammate, Sam Cohen, hit a dramatic walkoff homerun in the bottom of the ninth of the Supers in Louisville to turn a deficit into a ticket to Omaha.

Our team was so confident. We didn’t have a ton of prospects, but we all had each others backs. I was the same guy then as I am now in the sense that I came in and threw some curveballs.

 

I got out of the 8th and they pulled me to save me for the next day, and I remember saying, we’re not gonna need it.

 

We ended up stringing some hits together and Burdi was out there, who was an animal. Sam Cohen came up and after he got a bunch of fastballs, he finally got a changeup in and off the bat he hit a walkoff homerun.

 

When he hit it, and we knew we had won, we just took off.

Drafted

After a very good career at UCSB, Bettencourt was drafted in the 25th Round in 2016 by the Phillies, where he would spend his entire professional career up until this past off season. 

He got off to a very good start in 2016 is his 2 outings in his short season, and entered 2017, his first full year of pro ball, ready to go. 

Between 2017 and 2018 he climbed as high as AA, and was pitching as well as he could and looked to be on a crash course with the MLB in no time at all. 

But, that’s when things slowed down, and eventually came to basically a complete stop.

In 2019 he had to undergo his 2nd Tommy John surgery, then Covid canceled the 2020 Minor League season, then he missed all of 2021 due to yet another surgery. When it was all said and done, he threw just 2.2 innings in a 3 year span and was left wondering if it was time to hang ’em up for good.

But, that burning desire of wanting to know just how good he can get kept his fire full of flames, and he decided to just keep going.

Bettencourt came back and pitched in 2022 for basically the first time in 3 years, and jumped 4 levels, eventually landing as high as AAA with the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. 

Having been in Professional baseball for 7 years at that point, he was eligible to become a Free Agent, and upon entering into Free Agency chose the Dodgers this Winter of 2023. 

Bettencourt loved his time with the Phillies, learned a lot and made life long friends. 

I was lucky enough to get drafted in the first place, and went there in 2016 and only threw a couple of innings. Then 2017 rolled around and I had a good year and they helped me out with some tweaks here and there.

 

The following year was when I started getting hurt.

 

I was out like 2 months in 2018, then in 2019 I had Tommy John Surgery, then 2020 got canceled, and in 2021 I ended up having to get another surgery.

 

I finally got to play in 2022. 

Bettencourt continued about his time with the Phillies. 

I appreciate those people a lot. I’m sure a lot of organizations would have let me go, but they stuck with me and let me see if it was possible. I met a lot of lifetime friends and I even consider a lot of the staff there to be good friends. 

Bettencourt also explained why he chose to become a Dodger.

As Free Agency goes sometimes you only have so many options and thankfully the Dodgers were an option for me. I’ve already learned so much. I’m 29, and at this point I’m just trying to see how good I can get before the window closes and I think this is the exact place I need to be.

Prospect Feature

Bettencourt features a good fastball that has natural “cut” to it, but, make no mistake, his strength is in shaping his off speed pitches. He has a tremendous curveball that “falls off the table”, but that’s just the beginning of his skill in terms of how he uses his breaking balls. 

Bettencourt can shape his breaking balls in many different ways. He has the big breaking ball, and he also has a big slider that has great depth. But, he can also make his slider a little smaller to use as a higher efficiency strike pitch that he can throw to keep hitters off of his fastball. You can see this “smaller” slider in action by clicking this link or the picture on the left. 

Bettencourt also has a cutter that he likes to throw to lefties to get underneath and inside of their swings. The cutter has similar action to the slider in the sense that is has a smaller shape, but it has less depth. Check it out by clicking here or on the picture on the right. 

When Bettencourt is looking for swing and miss, he can add a whole ton of depth to his slider. His “swing and miss” slider is similar to curveball, but has a little less depth and a little more of a left turn. Check it out by clicking here or on the picture on the left. 

Bettencourt has a good 4 Seam that can top in the mid 90’s and it has natural cut. And, after he’s thrown a barrage of different shaped breaking balls, it looks a lot faster to a hitter. You can check out his 4 seam by clicking here or by clicking on the picture on the right. 

Let’s be clear, while Bettencourt has a great arsenal of different shapes and speeds, his curveball is his bread and butter. It got him drafted, it’s kept him in the game, and, if he makes the Major Leagues, it will be the main reason why. His curveball has a life of its own with the amount of depth and tumble it has. It “falls off the table” and does so with late break making it very difficult for the hitter to identify. It’s simply a great pitch! Check it out by clicking here or on the picture on the left. 

Bettencourt has natural “cut” to almost everything he throws, so making the ball turn left is something he is and always has been good at. He is also very competitive and loves the big moments and winning.

I’m good at making the ball go left, and I like to think that I just go right at guys are my best features. That, and just being present and enjoying the big moments. I just want the team to win. The more wins you get the more fun you have, and I just wanna have some fun.

Baseball is the ultimate challenge and can’t be mastered, which is a large part of how addicting, if not maddening, it can be. So, all players, at every level, are always working on something to improve upon. For Bettencourt, when asked what that one thing would be he said it was his sinker to give him a different shape. 

I probably need to work on my sinker the most, because it’s my pitch that can turn right. Pretty much that, and making sure that I’m throwing enough strikes are 2 things I can always be working on. 

What’s Next

Bettencourt has been in Professional baseball since 2016 and has experienced everything from great success, to the surgery table, to Covid canceling an entire season to becoming a Free Agent. So, it’s safe to say, not much could phase him at this point in his career, and, even more so, not anything can get in his way of continuing to chase his dream. 

He has very good stuff and is humble but very confident, so it didn’t take him long to fit right in to the Dodgers culture. He is one of the most well liked and respected players, both by his coaches and his peers, of anyone in the organization because of how hard he works and just overall how good of a dude he is. 

Making the Major Leagues brings odds that are so incredible that if you actually sit down and think about them, it might make you think twice. So, to make it, you have to do what Bettencourt has done, and that is, just keep grinding, keep believing, keep working and keep bettering yourself everyday you have the great opportunity to be a part of a professional organization. 

Trevor is close, he’s worked hard, and the road has been long, so you can only imagine how hard everyone who knows him, whether casual or close, is rooting for him. He will keep working, he’ll keep doing things right and he’ll keep waiting for his chance to one day put on a Major League Uniform. 

In closing I would like to thank Trevor for joining Dodgers Daily. He has such a great story of talent, perseverance and hard work that I was super excited to do this interview and feature and get to meet him and tell at least a part of his story. 

On the day we did the interview it was 105 degrees, and these guys are super busy and this was not a short interview, so, I would like to thank Trevor very much for his kindness in giving his time and wish him the best of luck. 

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