Veteran A.J. Pierzynski is not supposed to be the starting catcher for the Braves. But maybe he is. Sort of.
The ambiguity is coming from Pierzynski himself, who seems to be wresting the job away from Christian Bethancourt. The former not only played Wednesday night, but also in an afternoon game Thursday.
Pierzynski has simply outperformed Bethancourt at the plate. His three-hit game Wednesday raised his average to .391 with three home runs, five RBI and an .826 slugging percentage. He's on a six-game hitting streak and is one start on the year behind Bethancourt, who was the declared starter before the season began.
"He's swinging it," Fredi Gonzalez told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "...He's not your normal prototypical catcher-backup guy that'll only catch 20, 30 games a year."