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Atlanta Braves Catcher Tyler Flowers Has Broken Hand, Out At Least Six Weeks

By Jeff Schafer

Feb 22, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves catchers Tyler Flowers (25) and A.J. Pierzynski stretch during spring training workouts at ESPN
Feb 22, 2016; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves catchers Tyler Flowers (25) and A.J. Pierzynski stretch during spring training workouts at ESPN /
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Braves catcher, Flowers, has broken hand

Tyler Flowers, Atlanta Braves catcher, has been diagnosed with a broken left hand and according to Braves beat writer Mark Bowman, he will be placed on the disabled list and be out at least six weeks.

He left last Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox in the middle of the bottom of the 2nd inning.  Flowers could have aggravated the hand when he had a check swing in the top of the 2nd inning, but he also was struck in that hand by Miami Marlins closer A.J. Ramos on June 1st.

Thought to be just a strained left hand, Flowers will now miss an extended period of time with this injury.

Following the game on Saturday, Flowers told reports the following…

“At the current moment, it feels terrible.  So, I wouldn’t expect me to get out there tomorrow.  It was just real uncomfortable and painful right there after, so I was just seeing if I could at least catch another inning or two, but the impact at that moment, with it being freshly aggravated, it wasn’t very comfortable.”

This will be the second time this season that the Braves will be suffering from an injury after a player was hit by a pitch.  Mallex Smith is also on the disabled list with a broken thumb.

Strangely, Flowers played in four games with the broken hand.  Must have kept it from the trainers.

Flowers was signed by the Braves in the offseason on a two-year contract that guarantees him $5.3MM.  In 2016, Flowers will earn $2MM and in 2017 he’s make $3MM in 2017.  He does have a third year option of which the Braves would pay him $4MM.

The 30-year-old has had a decent season for the Braves offensively, in the 53 games he’s appeared in, he’s batted .253/.343/.425 in 2016.

This kind of puts the Braves in a bad spot for the next six weeks — AJ Pierzynski hasn’t hit like he did last season and the worst position in the minors (at least that’s close to being ready) is the catcher position.

Mark Bowman thinks that the Braves will call-up Anthony Recker from Triple-A Gwinnett to take Flowers spot once he’s put on the DL.  Recker was placed on the inactive list last week for some issue (digging for information), but could be back with the team if they were playing.

The 32-year-old catcher from Allentown, PA is hitting .243/.325/.419 with six doubles, six home runs, 18 RBIs, 20 runs scored.  He’s had 16 walks in 2016 compared to 45 strikeouts.

Recker has played in the MLB — he’s actually appeared in games from 2011 to 2015 (now 2016 where he’ll most likely get a start).  He’s played with the Oakland A’s, Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.  He most recently played with the Cleveland Indians.  On May 9, 2016 Cleveland sent Recker to Atlanta in exchange for cash considerations.

Next: Braves 50 Midseason Top Prospects: 40-31

With MLB experience, Recker makes sense for the Braves.  He’ll fit in (hopefully) nicely with the Braves pitching staff and in the lineup.

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