Second baseman Jace Peterson continued his eye-opening spring with his first three-hit game Monday against the Tigers, and other Braves rookies and a non-roster invitee also impressed manager Fredi Gonzalez, including a couple of outfielders competing for a bench job.
Catcher Christian Bethancourt hit his first home run and raised his average to .306 with seven extra-base hits and a .556 slugging percentage in 36 at-bats. Meanwhile, backup-outfield candidate Todd Cunningham went 3-for-4 and showed off his solid defensive while splitting time between center field and right field in the 4-2 Braves win.
“Cunningham comes back from being sick two or three days and gets a couple of hits, makes a nice play in the outfield,” Gonzalez said. “Peterson did a nice job there also. Doing a nice job swinging the bat. So I can’t complain. We’re scoring runs. Situational hitting and doing the little things – (outfield candidate Joe) Benson comes in to pinch-hit and gets the sac fly RBI, puts the ball in play. It’s nice to see that, to not see strikeouts, put the ball in play.”
Bethancourt homered to right-center field off right-hander Angel Nesbitt with two out in the seventh. With the rookie set to take over as the primary catcher this season, the Braves are seeing what they’d hoped to see from him this spring.
“He’s been a breath of fresh air,” Gonzalez said, “with the way he’s been able to handle the bat, and also handle the pitching staff. So that’s a good thing.”
