Tyler Flowers - (C, ATL) – Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Tyler Flowers has taken an improbable step forward in his age 31 season as he is batting .100 points over his career average. In addition, he is on pace to smash his career best run production thanks in large part to his .422 on-base percentage.

His average is set to regress some due to a .395 BABIP, however, he has also cut his strikeout rate to below 20% for the first time in his career. That change is a legitimate one, backed by a changed plate approach as Flowers is chasing fewer pitches outside the zone and also and making more contact with pitches he swings at inside the zone. That has led to a 35.6% hard contact rate and a drastically lowered swinging strike rate.

Thus, it can reasonably be expected that he continues to reach base at a solid clip, especially given for a catcher. He also has more run scoring upside over other non-elite catchers thanks to the fact that he most frequently bats sixth in the Braves’ lineup, as opposed to most other catchers who bat eighth or ninth in their teams’ lineups.

Overall, some regression should be expected from Flowers but his sudden and improbable improvement is also backed by legitimate changes to his profile. That makes him a very strong waiver wire addition for those looking to find steady production from the catcher position in deeper leagues.