The Atlanta Braves were in desperate need of catching depth. With Travis d’Arnaud and Alex Jackson on the Injured List, and their Triple-A catching tandem in the majors, the Braves brought Tyler Flowers back on a minor league deal. The idea was that he would spend approximately a month in the minors before returning to the majors, likely in a time share with William Contreras behind the plate.
Those plans will not come to fruition after all. Just eight days after signing, Flowers has changed his mind, announcing his retirement from baseball.
Tyler Flowers has decided to retire. He played the past few seasons with two degenerative discs in his back and developed another while preparing to resume his career with the Braves in a few weeks. He’ll always be remembered for revolutionizing the art of pitch framing.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) May 14, 2021
Atlanta Braves need catching help once again
It was not a lack of desire that made Flowers head off into retirement. He had taken a job in the Braves front office to essentially be an emergency catcher, someone who would strap the gear on once again if the worst happened. Instead, he developed another degenerative disc in his back, forcing him back to the sidelines.
A 12 year veteran in the majors, Flowers had a solid career. He posted a lifetime .237/.319/.391 batting line in his 2776 plate appearances, hitting 86 homers and 111 doubles. Although his batting line and 91 OPS+ may not seem spectacular, those are solid numbers considering that he spent his career behind the plate.
His greatest contributions in baseball did not come with the bat. Flowers was the father of the pitch framing revolution, a master at stealing strikes for his pitchers. Even though the electronic strike zone may be on the way, and remove that particular skillset from the game, that does not change the impact that he made.
While Flowers can still presumably make an impact by helping Braves catchers with their defense, the organization finds themselves back at square one. Contreras is the starter, but Jeff Mathis is not exactly a strong backup with the stick. The Braves, once again, need to find help behind the plate, either in free agency or on the trade market.
Tyler Flowers was the Atlanta Braves emergency option in case he was needed behind the plate. With his retirement, they need catching help once again.