Lineup issues, catcher deficiencies hurt Atlanta Braves on Monday

2. Tyler Flowers is a liability at this point

Open Twitter during a game where Tyler Flowers is playing and it’s clear to see that many Atlanta Braves fans have jumped on the ship that I have captained for a while and want Flowers off the team.

During the first inning last night, it was a struggle for Flowers to catch the ball at all, and in fact, he had his 13th passed ball of the game. His second in as many games, and his 4th in his last 7 games. It directly cost us a run in the first inning.

Before we jump to his bat, let’s continue a little on the defense. Some will tell you Flowers pitch framing is still good, but the eye test completely blows that out of the water, and in fact, his numbers for pitch framing is at his career-worst.

Also, the Braves pitching staff is performing worse with Flowers than Brian McCann so far this year. Brian McCann has caught 489 innings so far this year, and Flowers has caught 441.2. Flowers ERA is 4.79 while McCann’s is 3.79.

Now, let’s get to his offense. Basic stats will tell you how bad it has been, but we are gonna dig a little deeper. Flowers has a .229 BA and only has 19 RBI to this point. His OPS is .731.

Now we know that Flowers tends to be the starter when a lefty is opposing the Braves, but get this … he is only 7-for-57 against left-handers this year.

Adding on, since May 1st, Flowers has only 23 hits compared to 54 strikeouts. His strikeout rate is a whopping 35.6% this season.

Lastly, he only has 1 sac fly this season.

I’ve said it on here many times already, but I’m still really hoping the Braves make an improvement over Flowers in the next 24 hours.