Braves' catching situation

[shoeless joe]

Been able to watch several games this past week and this bethancourt is a studd defensive catcher. I have also been pleasantly surprised with his offense. However, gattis is starting baseball activities and may be back in a couple weeks. With catcher being a premium defensive position it may get interesting, especially with all 3 everyday outfielders swinging fairly well rite now.

[msstate7]

Fredi has already said gattis will catch when healthy. Most likely Christian will be sent down to keep catching everyday

[msstate7]

I love bethancourt though. Gattis better be glad he's a premier hitting catcher bc bethancourt is outstanding defensively

[shoeless joe]

Fredi has already said gattis will catch when healthy. Most likely Christian will be sent down to keep catching everyday

Wouldn't be shocked by this but ded gum he is an elite defensive guy. If BJ had kept sucking then I could see doing some shuffling out there and put gattis in left.

With bethancourt behind the plate they may very well have the best; at least top 2-3, defensive catcher, right fielder, first baseman, and short stop. That is amazing really...and a huge reason for expected success.

[shoeless joe]

And rite on cue***

[msstate7]

Wouldn't be shocked by this but ded gum he is an elite defensive guy. If BJ had kept sucking then I could see doing some shuffling out there and put gattis in left.

With bethancourt behind the plate they may very well have the best; at least top 2-3, defensive catcher, right fielder, first baseman, and short stop. That is amazing really...and a huge reason for expected success.

If gattis could play lf at a decent level, I'd love to have him there. He's terrible though. Jup is already bad in lf. Moving jup to rf and gattis in lf will make us very, very weak defensively on the corners.

[msstate7]

And rite on cue***

Haha yep

[CadaverDawg]

EliteDawgs...For all things Atlanta braves, and a splash of MSU athletics.***

[msstate7]

EliteDawgs...For all things Atlanta braves, and a splash of MSU athletics.***

Can we please get an "a" on the banner?*

[CadaverDawg]

Can we please get an "a" on the banner?*

Haha

[CadaverDawg]

EliteDwgs

[msstate7]

EliteDwgs

Perfect. Nice work

[War Machine Dawg]

Bethancourt will probably go back down. But I've been pleasantly surprised with his bat. He definitely looks ready to play. Don't get the hate for Gattis. He isn't bad at all defensively. The pitching staff loves the guy. Bethancourt being a defensive freak doesn't mean Gattis sucks. I'd say Gattis is probably better right now than Mac was at any point of his career, and I personally thought Mac was underrated defensively. It's almost like unless you're Yadi Molina, you get pegged as either an "offensive" or "defensive" catcher now and can't get credit for being good at both. I'm excited as hell to get Gattis back, but I'd love to find a way to keep Bethancourt on the 25 man, too. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Laird and a waste of roster space in Uggla. Have I mentioned how much I hate Wren?

[msstate7]

Bethancourt will probably go back down. But I've been pleasantly surprised with his bat. He definitely looks ready to play. Don't get the hate for Gattis. He isn't bad at all defensively. The pitching staff loves the guy. Bethancourt being a defensive freak doesn't mean Gattis sucks. I'd say Gattis is probably better right now than Mac was at any point of his career, and I personally thought Mac was underrated defensively. It's almost like unless you're Yadi Molina, you get pegged as either an "offensive" or "defensive" catcher now and can't get credit for being good at both. I'm excited as hell to get Gattis back, but I'd love to find a way to keep Bethancourt on the 25 man, too. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Laird and a waste of roster space in Uggla. Have I mentioned how much I hate Wren?

I referred to gattis being terrible in lf, not catcher. Gattis is nowhere near bethancourt defensively, but bethancourt is no where near gattis offensively. I'd go gattis this year...

[Political Hack]

Bethencourt is going to be trade bait. He's a stud defensively and has a bat to boot. Get gattis back and go grab a role player to make a push into the post season. A middle reliever/4th SP would be nice. A team will give that up for a young #2 catcher who is still developing.

Gattis getting hurt could be a lifesaver for the Braves if this plays out correctly.

[shoeless joe]

Bethencourt is going to be trade bait. He's a stud defensively and has a bat to boot. Get gattis back and go grab a role player to make a push into the post season. A middle reliever/4th SP would be nice. A team will give that up for a young #2 catcher who is still developing.

Gattis getting hurt could be a lifesaver for the Braves if this plays out correctly.

If this happened then I'd have to agree with some others that wren is an idiot...I just don't see it

[Political Hack]

the talking heads are already suggesting it.

[msstate7]

the talking heads are already suggesting it.

I don't think you trade either one this year esp considering gattis' back is questionable. I do think the braves should make a decision which one after the season though.

[KB21]

They have to take into account that Evan is also 28 years old. While he doesn't have the wear and tear on his bones that a Brian McCann had at that age, catchers still do not age well. Evan is an elite offensive catcher, but he's probably middle of the pack defensively. Christian Bethancourt has a chance to be the defensive equals of Yadier Molina and Salvador Perez, and neither one of them were exceptionally strong offensive catchers coming out of the minors.

[BoomBoom]

Bethancourt still needs some seasoning. He had the pass ball today, and a few other young mistakes lately if you've been paying attention. plus his bat is ok but IMO he's been lucky. his minor league stats do not suggest his bat should be performing at this level, and he's often looked overmatched at the plate.

Braves have a decision to make. His stock will never be higher. trade now or keep long-term.