Atlanta Braves Off-Season Free Agent Outlook: Catchers

Another White Sox Backstop?

The White Sox have been our proverbial fountain of youth I guess you could say. OK, maybe not youth, but certainly the bottle harvesting the lighting.

A.J. Pierzynski (yeah, he came to us from the Cardinals, but he’s a Pale Hose). AJP had an unbelievable 2015 no one could have predicted.

The offensive outburst no one thought would last the season, were utterly stunned. The 2016 version AJP has come crashing back to earth with gusto. It hasn’t been pretty.

Tyler Flowers. Yep, another South Side transplant. Flowers has been pretty much what we needed him to be. He’s been the primary catcher, minus his DL stint, all season long.

He has been very serviceable in the role. And honestly, I’d be fine with him back again next year as the primary receiver for the Braves.

But one guy that could also transplant from the South Side could be Alex Avila. Avila is 29 years of age, right now, but he will turn 30 in January. He’s still somewhat young.

Avila, who before landing in Chicago, spent his first seven seasons in Detroit. His playing time has dropped significantly since 2014. He played in 124 games that year, but 2015, and so far in 2016, has only seen him barely match that number.

Avila this season in 43 games has put together a decent line for a backup catcher. His .240/.369/.380 line are closer to his 2011 All-Star campaign than his previous 4 years. His .749 OPS is the highest in that same time span as well.

Defensively, Avila this season, in 41 games behind the plate, he has thrown out 25% of base-stealers.

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