Atlanta Braves: Is Tyler Flowers The Future For The Braves?
Have the Atlanta Braves found their catcher of the future in Tyler Flowers? His numbers so far this season would indicate he is more than capable of being the Braves catcher for some time to come.
Anyone who has followed the Atlanta Braves since their Atlanta inception knows the organization has been blessed with some of the greatest catchers to play the game. From Joe Torre, to the only catcher to win a World Series with the Braves in Javy Lopez, to our most recent all time great Brian McCann, Atlanta has flourished behind the plate.
Fast forward to 2017, and Tyler Flowers the Roswell, Georgia native resides behind the plate. The Braves organization has been methodically moving pieces over the span of the last few seasons, but could Flowers be the long time answer for the Braves?
Since debuting in 2009, Flowers has had a career filled with questions, and not many answers. The Chicago White Sox believed Flowers could play first base, and never really allowed him to prove his worth at the catching position until 2013 where he caught 84 games. To show how devalued as a catcher Flowers was, just look between 2009-2013 where he caught a grand total of 93 games for the White Sox.
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Yes, Flowers was a young player, and at the time A.J. Pierzynski was the catcher for the White Sox, but why call him up just to have him ride the bench? In the two seasons Flowers has played for the Braves he has an astounding .304 batting average, and is currently hitting .338 in 2017. Obviously the front office is a fan of Flowers since they have started him 134 games in his two seasons he’s been with the organization, but this leads me to the question hovering over this article: Is Tyler Flowers the future of the Atlanta Braves?
Statistically speaking, Flowers has been a consistent bat for the Braves and does a great job behind the plate. Last season the Roswell native played in 83 games with 281 at bats averaging .270 at the plate, and as of June 13th Flowers has started in 45 games with 139 at bats averaging .338. So yes, it’s hard to argue that the Braves don’t believe Flowers won’t be catching for them in the years to come. At the age of 31, he has a lot of baseball left to be played, and if you need proof just take a look at the highlights from his 9th inning three run homer that completed the Braves comeback to beat the Nationals on the road Monday night.