Talking Chop

At the major league level…
… Some guy name Brian McCann. He’s only been an All-Star for three straight years and been one of the five-best hitting catchers in the majors during that time. He’s signed for a long time, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down as he’s caught more and more games each year he’s been in the league. McCann is one of the re-building blocks of this team, and he won’t be supplanted anytime soon.

He’s all that any team can ask for at the catcher position. He’s a consummate perfectionist and works hard at his catching. In looking at his runners thrown out, they are not eye-popping by any means, but remember that the Braves have had an organizational pitching philosophy for a long time of concentrating more on the batter than the baserunner, and that leads to a lot of good jumps and more stolen bases. Don’t always blame the catcher for stolen bases.

Barring injury, Mac will be the man behind the plate for a long time in Atlanta, and the Braves and their fans are just fine with that. Whatever went wrong with the Braves this year, it didn’t have a thing to do with McCann (now, his old roommate, that’s a different story).

The future Braves catcher…
… While no one may be unable to unseat Brian McCann, and even after trading away two major league caliber catchers the last couple of years in Max Ramirez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Braves still have plenty of young catching talent beginning with the combination of patience and power in Tyler Flowers. T-Flow is a Moneyball wet dream, and now that he’s fully healthy and his steroid suspension a distant memory, there doesn’t seem like too much that can keep him from becoming a major league caliber hitter.

He may eventually find himself as a first baseman or DH-type player, but after being limited to playing those alternate positions last year because of injury, he returned to catching and made decent strides in most facets of being behind the plate. All indications are that he needs more work calling a game, and with such a big body his footwork as he unloads on his throws will always be a constant struggle.

Flowers reminds me of Saltalamacchia in his physique and hitting prowess. If Flowers were a first rounder like Salty, instead of a draft-and-follow, he would probably attract even more attention that he has attracted. That’s not to say he hasn’t gone unnoticed as we saw last spring training when he got rave reviews from Bobby Cox and his staff. He’s a great guy to have in case of injury to McCann, and he may eventually be an interesting guy who could play some catcher, first base, and come off the bench for the Braves. But the odds are that, like Salty and Ramirez, he’ll be used as trade bait at some point in the next two years.

More for future consideration…
2. Daniel Elorriaga-Matra – I was a big fan of his when he was drafted late in last year’s draft, and signed a month later. Many considered him a top-five round prospect out of high school in Florida. The Braves convinced him to enter their catcher factory of a minor league system and learn on the job. His short stint before injury in the GCL this year was impressive, but with the glut of good young catching talent in the low minors, he may get bumped back to a short-season club again next year. He’s still just 19, so there’s plenty of time to develop.

3. Matt Kennelly – A star product of Australia, Kennelly is another guy who has drawn comparisons to Saltalamacchia. He did well this year at Danville, and rode a hot streak during a 10-game promotion to Rome. He’s one of the organization’s "international projects," so assume that he’s several years away from being considered major league ready, but he’s also only 19 and has plenty of time.

4. Braeden Schlehuber – This year’s fourth-round draft pick got his feet wet in the GCL after signing, and like most catchers in the Braves system, he won’t be rushed at the lower levels. It will be interesting to see where they put Matra, Kennelly, and Schlehuber between Rome and Danville.

5. Clint Sammons – He’s turning out to be an all-catch/no-hit catcher, but every once in a while he can break out the lumber. He’ll have to learn how to be a backup as it looks like the Braves will make him McCann’s backup next year over the Corky Millers of the world.

Others:  Christian Betancourt (Panamanian teenager held his own in the DSL; he will be an interesting kid to keep an eye on in the years to come); Phillip Britton (he's a light-hitting, good defensive catcher, sort of a poor-man's Clint Sammons)

Photo of Tyler Flowers courtesy of Chip Jett