ATLANTA -- Before a recent game, Christian Bethancourt sat at his locker in the Braves' clubhouse, headphones in as he poked at his iPad.
He was playing a Japanese baseball game where the user creates his own player and takes him through the progression of a career. The rookie catcher summed up his domination succinctly.
"Well, I've played 11 seasons and I've been MVP eight times," he said.
In reality, things haven't gone quite as planned for Bethancourt in the early days of his career, but glimpses remain of why he's in the Braves' long-term plans.
"That's a tough position to develop and we still feel that he's a guy that's going to help us in the future," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.
Touted as having the tools to be the game's next great defensive catcher, the rookie had his seventh passed ball in Friday's loss to the Mets. That ranks ninth in the majors despite appearing in 38 games and by comparison, fellow Atlanta catcher A.J. Pierzynski has four in 95 games.
But Sunday, the 24-year-old Bethancourt threw out two runners, Kirk Nieuwenhuis at third in the second inning and Eric Young Jr. at second in the eighth inning. He now has a 45 percent caught-stealing rate, well above the MLB average of 28 percent.
"Sometimes I think a young prospect that's been heralded as the next coming of Yadier Molina or Johnny Bench gets under the microscope too much," Gonzalez said.
The passed balls have long been an issue, as Bethancourt had 83 in eight minor league seasons. But in the 48 games in Triple-A Gwinnett after he was demoted in mid-June, he had just one.
Gonzalez pointed to last Wednesday's 8-1 win over the Phillies in which Julio Teheran and two relievers teamed for a four-hitter as "probably about as well-caught as any baseball game that I've seen anybody catch in a long time."
But more than anything, what manager and franchise are looking for from Bethancourt is not those peeks at how good he can be, but for him to do it consistently.
"I guess we want the games to become six, seven, eight games in a row good. Everybody's going to have a bad one, but that's what we want to see," Gonzalez said.
Especially at the plate.
While he's hit .188/.271/.480 in 148 plate appearances with two homers and 12 RBI in a Braves uniform, striking out 30 times, his numbers at the lower levels show hope for progress. He hit .327/.359/.480 in Gwinnett this year, had a .408 slugging percentage there in '13 and .436 with Double-A Mississippi the year before.
That inability, at least so far, to be put all together at the major league level makes these next weeks key for Bethancourt.
The 38-year-old Pierzynski went from would-be mentor to the Braves' primary backstop due to his young counterpart struggling and proceeded to hit .292/.331/.411 with seven homers and 44 RBI.
They've split the job since Bethancourt's promotion Aug. 24, each making 10 starts, but the organization is making it clear this is Bethancourt's job to lose.
Can he show enough progress in building a rapport with the young pitching staff and at the plate to keep the Braves from looking elsewhere?
"I think he's a big plan for us and we'll keep running him out there and he'll get better," Gonzalez said.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney
