In short, if the offense ever comes close to matching the
defense, he’ll be a stud.
Bethncourt put up promising numbers between low and high A
as a 19 year old, and continued the good work by raking in the Arizona Fall
League. He followed this up by completely laying an egg at Mississippi in 2012.
A .243 average isn’t terrible, but combing that with only 11 walks and 8 extra
base hits in nearly 300 at bats is. Breaking a wrist in the final weeks was the
cherry on top of a disappointing campaign.
There is still plenty of time for the youngster to improve.
The Arizona Fall League is as good of a place to hit as Mississippi is bad; his
true potential is somewhere between the .306/.325/.556 .243/.271/.295 he posted
months apart. The timetable for catcher development is slower than any other
position; Bethancourt being so far ahead of the curve defensively will buy him
time for the bat to come around.
The comparisons to another catcher who made his mark with an
excellent arm and a bat that evolved are inevitable. Bethancourt’s defense is
so strong he’ll probably end up in the bigs even if he doesn’t develop as a
hitter. While he is being hailed by many as the next Yadier Molina, the more
appropriate question is which Molina brother will he turn in to? Will it be
Yadier, who used average offense and elite level defense to make himself a
perennial all star? Or Jose Molina who has bounced around but keeps getting
jobs because his other wordly defense makes up for the fact he can’t hit a
lick.
With the departures of Ross and Boscan and likelihood McCann
will miss at least a portion of April, Bethancourt’s name has come up as a
potential short term backup. This is something that will almost certainly not
happen. The question is not whether he is ready for the show, but rather will
he repeat Double A (I believe he will). The Braves will find a Boscan type 4A
player to soak up a few at bats early in the season and wait at Gwinnett in case
of injury. While Christian could provide excellent defense, it is not worth
starting his service time clock for him not getting at bats when we can find a
journeyman to provide similar service. Putting him on the Opening Day roster
would essentially steal games from him when we don’t need him and he can’t hit
that would be better served years down the road when he’s matured
and can produce
While we’re on the subject of Mississippi Braves back stops…
Evan Gattis is as much a catcher as Matt Diaz was. When he was young his coach
put him behind the plate and he was decent enough to stick there for a while,
but eventually he became a man, packed on muscle, and outgrew the position. The
Braves will give him innings behind the dish to keep him fresh behind the plate
in case a slew of injuries arises, but at this point his position is hitter.
Few storylines pack as much intrigue as that of Gattis,the
26 year iold former drug addict/nomad who just won’t quit hitting. While he’s shown he can mash in the low
minors, the bar for players stuck in the “can’t really play anywhere but a
corner or first” mold is high. The level of performance needed to be a valuable
left fielder or first baseman is drastically higher than that of a skill
position. In a lot of ways Gattis finds himself in the opposite position of his
teammate Bethancourt. While Christian’s superb defensive skillset means he just
needs to eek out a passable offense to succeed, Evan must mash with consistency
to make up for a lack of defensive skills. Further more, while the younger
catcher has plenty of time to adjust, Gattis is already entering the age most
players are hitting their prime, yet he has but half a season at Double A under
his belt.
He will likely start the year at Gwinnet and if he keeps the
hit parade going he’ll be on the short list for the call once the Braves need a
bench bat or if Heyward/Freeman/whomever is in left goes down. Needless to say,
he is not an option for the backup catcher option either.
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