31-year old righty swinging catcher A.J. Ellis bided his time early in his major league career, as he was considered little more than a decent backup. But, he beat out Matt Treanor for the starting job this spring and he’s playing the best baseball of his career so far in 2012. Ellis has played in 20 games for the Dodgers so far this year and he is 19 for 64 (.297 avg, .904 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 2 homers and 10 RBIs. Ellis has walked 17 times already this year as he is showing off a pretty good eye at the plate. He has now played in 107 games in his first five years in the majors (all with the Dodgers) and he is 73 for 270 (.270 avg, .742 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 4 homers and 38 RBIs. How long Ellis keeps the starting gig behind the plate is entirely up to him.