The Braves are considering calling up Christian Bethancourt

Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports that the Braves are considering making an interesting though potentially dangerous move: calling up catching prospect Christian Bethancourt. Calling him up is not the dangerous part. The move they’d make to give him playing time is:

Though a decision does not necessarily seem imminent, the Braves have discussed the possibility of promoting Bethancourt to serve as Atlanta’s starting catcher. If this decision were to be made, Gattis would move to left field and Justin Upton would transition to right field. To complete this equation, Jason Heyward would replace B.J. Upton in center field.

Upton can handle right. Heyward can handle center. Evan Gattis, as we all saw down the stretch last year, is a hot mess in the outfield. I mean, the effort is there and the brains are there, but he is truly a catcher and just can’t get to the balls he needs to get to.

Of course, the Braves’ biggest problem this year has been its offense. It has shown some signs of life in recent days, particularly at second base, where Tommy La Stella has taken over for the corpse of Dan Uggla. But B.J. Upton is still a drag on the offense despite some recent improvement. Bethancourt is no offensive powerhouse, but he has improved of late. He doesn’t need to be better than Gattis at the plate. He just needs to be better than Upton.

Interesting, and maybe a good move for the middle of the regular season. But I do worry about Gattis roaming left field if the race is close in September. And if he’s out there in the playoffs I may need to get heart medication.