Braves 2021 Player Previews: Can Travis d’Arnaud Do it Again?

We take a look at the catcher position for the Atlanta Braves and whether or not Travis d’Arnaud can put together another great season. 

Just a couple of weeks ago we thought there might be some shakeup at the catcher position for the Atlanta Braves, but after the dream of signing J.T. Realmuto dissipated, we calmed down and realized they already have one of the best hitting catchers in baseball over the past few seasons.

And really, the Atlanta Braves have been great at piecing together the catcher position for several seasons now with players like Kurt Suzuki, Tyler Flowers, and d’Arnaud.

In 2017 they finished second in WAR among catchers at 5.9 with Suzuki and Flowers. They were eighth in 2018 at 3.1 with Flowers and Suzuki again.

Flowers and Brian McCann combined for 3.2 WAR in 2019, and then last season d’Arnaud carried the Braves to a 2.1 WAR at the position, which ranked fifth in baseball.

For the past four seasons they’ve finished in the top 10 in WAR among catchers — granted, a big part of that is because of the high defensive value they give Flowers. But still, they’ve done a great job at catcher over the years.

d’Araud will certainly be the primary catcher for the Braves going into the 2021 season. As of right now, we still aren’t sure who will be his back-up.

They very well could bring back Flowers who the team likes very much, but I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them give William Contreras or Alex Jackson a shot as the team’s back-up this season — that’s actually what I prefer.

Either way, d’Arnaud figures to spend the majority of the time behind the plate for Atlanta in 2021, and that figures to be a good thing.