Tyler

Flowers

Mark Bowman of MLB.com says that Flowers played with two degenerative discs in his back the last few seasons and developed another after signing a minor league contract with the Braves earlier this month. He will remain with the Braves in a coaching capacity, helping them to prepare game plans. Flowers, 35, batted .237/.319/.391 with 86 home runs over 12 major league seasons.

Flowers will be on the taxi squad for now, but he could soon be added to the Braves’ active roster with Travis d’Arnaud facing a lengthy absence due to a torn thumb ligament that required surgery. Flowers, 35, batted .217/.325/.348 with one home run and five RBI over 22 games (80 plate appearances) for Atlanta last year.

According to Puma, the Mets aren’t comfortable with their catching depth and are in the market for someone to either unseat Thomas Nido as the primary backup to James McCann, or at least provide a more serviceable third option on the depth chart. Flowers, 35, had a down season offensively with the Braves in 2020, slashing just .217/.325/.348 with one homer, five RBI and a 34/8 K/BB ratio over 80 plate appearances.

Flowers left for what is being described as “precautionary reasons” and is not expected to need an IL stint, according to David O’Brien of The Athletic. Travis d’Arnaud has taken over behind the plate. For now, consider Flowers day-to-day.

Flowers was placed on the injured list just before Opening Day after showing symptoms of COVID-19. It doesn’t sound like he ever tested positive, and he’ll finally be available on Wednesday.

They’re on the injured list with symptoms related to COVID-19 but have apparently passed through the necessary testing protocol and were able to work out in Atlanta on Tuesday. William Contreras and Alex Jackson have been filling in at catcher for the Braves in the early going.

While Flowers has not tested positive for COVID-19, he is showing symptoms. Travis d’Arnaud is also out of commission for the same reason, so Alex Jackson will start at catcher on Friday.

It’s a bit of clever accounting by the Braves, as they’ll decline his $6 million club option and pay him a $2 million buyout in addition to the new $4 million salary for 2020. So he’s getting $6 million regardless, but only $4 will count toward the 2020 payroll. Flowers turns 34 in January and batted .229/.319/.413 with 11 homers over 310 plate appearances while sharing playing time with Brian McCann. While he was again below-average as a hitter, he provided value for the Braves with his contributions behind the plate. He’ll return for at least a share of catching duties.

It’s been McCann over Tyler Flowers for each of the first two games. The Braves are using the same lineup Friday that they used in Thursday’s Game 1 loss.

He tore into a Zach Eflin pitch with two runners aboard in the fourth inning to provide the only scoring play of the evening for the Braves. That was the only one they needed as it turned out. Flowers has a .235 batting average with 11 home runs and 34 RBI in 78 games this year.