Could Not Agree More With This....
While browsing the latest developments on Evan Gattis, I happened upon this article by a Rome News Tribute columnist. All I can say is....GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE! I wanna buy this guy a drink!
JOSH BROWN COLUMN: Gattis needs to stay behind the plate
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Posted: Tuesday, November 18, 2014 12:07 am
When I read last week that John Hart is planning on moving Evan Gattis to left field and making Christian Bethancourt the Braves starting catcher, I about had a heart attack.
I was under the impression that Hart was an intelligent man. Now Iām completely confused.
First of all, Gattis does not belong in left field. My friend Glover says that if Yogi Berra could play outfield then anybody can, but I just donāt know about Gattis.
Heās certainly not the worst Iāve seen out there, but Iām still sticking to my guns and shouting from the mountaintops that Gattis belongs behind the plate, while Christian Bethancourt belongs in AAA.
I donāt like Bethancourt. I havenāt liked him as a full-time catching prospect for the past few years, and I still donāt like him.
To be completely frank with yāall, I think heās the Tyler Pastornicky of catchers.
If you canāt hit .300 in the minors, then Iām not going to be excited about you taking over the catching position in Atlanta. Especially when it means taking over Gattisā much-deserved spot.
The Braves front office has an obsession with Bethancourtās defensive abilities, and that seems to be the driving factor in making him their heir to the backstop throne.
Sure Bethancourtās arm is more accurate than Gattisā, but big deal. Brian McCann couldnāt throw out Sid Bream on crutches.
Let me drop some common sense on everyone.
Bethancourt is going to be about a .240 hitter in the majors, and he has zero power.
Gattis on the other hand is, well, Gattis.
Heās got power, can hit for average, and while his defense isnāt as good as Bethancourtās, he can call games and cannot play left field. So, leave him behind the plate.
Settling for Bethancourt as your starting catcher is weak, and leaves your lineup with a hole in it.
Keeping Gattis behind the plate, while strengthening your outfield another way is a much better idea.
Iāve heard some writers and fans question Gattisā year last year and blast him for missing games. I would like to kindly remind all of you, while shouting from this mountaintop, that many of those games missed were because Fredi Gonzalez wanted the .204 hitting Gerald Laird to get some starts.
Remember Gattisā 15-game hitting streak last year? Fredi benched him after that 15th game for literally no reason.
What Iām saying is this ā Gattis hit .263 last year. In my always right opinionated opinion, he could have ended up hitting for a higher average had he played more games.
He could have played more games had Fredi Gonzalez not had an inexplicable man-crush on Laird.
If the Braves continue with this plan in making overrated Bethancourt their starting catcher, they are doing Gattis a disservice.
What will happen is this ā Gattis will struggle in the outfield, then Fredi will panic and bench Gattis, not giving Gattis the at-bats that he most certainly deserves. That will leave us with a promising career ruined by Hart.
Thatās a depressing hypothesis, but someone needs to shout some common sense around here.
If the Braves are going back to the Bravesā way of doing things, turning their back on the best thing to come out of the farm system in years is going in the opposite direction. And starting Bethancourt behind the plate means that they let McCann go for no reason.
Nicely said, Mr. Brown! |
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