ESPN’s Jayson Stark is reporting the Atlanta Braves are “open to dealing from pitching prospect depth in a trade for a bat. They’ve asked about young catchers.”
The report, on the surface, makes sense. The Braves have used 23-year-old defensive prodigy Christian Bethancourt behind the plate as A.J Pierzynski’s backup. While his strong arm has been on display, throwing out 38 percent of would-be base stealers, his bat has been non-existent. He’s posted a minuscule .198 average with a .221 OBP in 104 plate appearances, which is simply atrocious. Bethancourt’s minor league numbers suggested he could at least be a league average hitter, so considering he’s struggling this much, it’s somewhat surprising.
I don’t think the Braves are quite yet ready to throw in the town with Bethancourt, but it doesn’t hurt to pursue a young catcher. Atlanta has loads of pitching depth at its disposal.
The young pitchers who could line up in the Braves’ future rotation include Shelby Miller, Alex Wood, Julio Teheran, Matt Wisler, Mike Foltynewicz, Manny Banuelos, Lucas Sims and recently acquired Touki Toussaint. GM John Hart could hypothetically ship out one of those young arms for catching depth, without needing to worry about moving them. That’s certainly a luxury.
Off the top of my head, a catcher who may be available is Max Pentecost. The Blue Jays’ 2014 first-round pick is likely blocked by Russell Martin for a while. Toronto is in the market for starting pitching, so maybe there’s a match there — but that’s just my own speculation.
Either way, the Braves will look to continue to be aggressive in order to build their farm system.
