knightni Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 03:58 PM) If he's platooning with AJ, where would Flowers play against righties? 1B? DH? I guess if we had PK, AJ, and Flowers split up the C, 1B, and DH spots we could get them all enough playing time, but I really think we're going to need a lefty DH. Flowers shouldn't be a DH unless the Sox have a third catcher and Flowers' defense isn't good enough to start. Also, I'd be hesitant to play Flowers at 1B for fear of a Toby Hall injury repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzie Ball Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 11:26 PM) Flowers shouldn't be a DH unless the Sox have a third catcher and Flowers' defense isn't good enough to start. Also, I'd be hesitant to play Flowers at 1B for fear of a Toby Hall injury repeat. Flowers played a lot, if not primarily, at first base in '06 and '07 so I wouldn't be too worried about it. Hall's injury seemed like a real freak occurrence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 06:28 PM) Flowers played a lot, if not primarily, at first base in '06 and '07 so I wouldn't be too worried about it. Hall's injury seemed like a real freak occurrence. That's good to hear; but, I'd be reluctant to change his position even temporarily if he's starting to do well at catcher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Hates Prospects Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 05:26 PM) Flowers shouldn't be a DH unless the Sox have a third catcher and Flowers' defense isn't good enough to start. Also, I'd be hesitant to play Flowers at 1B for fear of a Toby Hall injury repeat. I just wouldn't want to take away playing time from a prospect like that. At least let him hit. Carrying 3 catchers would be fine because if Flowers DH'd a lot, you could look at it like 2 catchers and a DH. Plus having Flowers on the bench next to the pitchers and Ozzie should help him learn more about catching than playing 1B. But he could play 1B here and there if we wanted him too. The main concerns I'd have with Flowers being here next year are his playing time and the lack of a big lefty bat in the middle of the order. If we work those two things out while keeping AJ (because it's foolish to expect Flowers to be able to handle a veteran pitching staff like AJ can straight out of the minors) then I'd be fine with having him here in 2010. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have a feeling that Thome will be back next year as the big lefty bat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny Hates Prospects Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 05:39 PM) I have a feeling that Thome will be back next year as the big lefty bat. If that is the case then there's really no place for Flowers to play except at C hitting vs. lefties, because we'd never bench Thome against RHP, and if Flowers can only get AB vs. lefties, I'd much rather keep him in Charlotte so he can catch everyday. No reason to get so excited about a prospect that we end up forcing him into a bad spot. All it would take would be one bad month statistically in limited playing time along with a couple bad errors, and suddenly Flowers would be back in Charlotte with less confidence. If we can't find AB we should just wait until 2011 or mid-season 2010 if we're out of the race at that time and then turn it ALL over to Flowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knightni Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I can see Flowers coming up in July or August 2010 depending on how A.J. is performing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonNotDavid Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 kind of hard to believe because NOBODY was calling him a top defensive catcher last year. They were calling him a guy who might have to move to first base or DH. Saw him play in AAA severall weeks ago. Looks a little stiff and mechanical behind the plate. I am skeptical of Flower's newfound defensive talent, but I agree: if Flowers can even be an average defensive catcher/pitchcaller, he can go places in the bigs. Now that we know that Flowers has the ability to manage the strike-zone, lay off junk in the dirt, the real question is: can he consistently turn on an inside fastball, and does he have the instincts/head-eye coordination to consistently rifle an outside pitches to RF. Or is he just a glorified Joe Borchard ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemon_44 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Platooning with AJ is probably the best way but i also could see if Flowers is as good a prospect as he's being touted then bring him in and play him next year. He's got to get the ball rolling sometime. Why not next year? Sign a vet backup and move AJ for some bullpen help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Sox Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Wow, great news! I'm not sure Flowers will ever hit for a huge average, but with his power and patience at the plate and even ML average defensive skills and he would be a huge asset to the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Its kind of shocking. Either the Southern League has horrible catchers or Flowers has improved an unbelievable amount since spring training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggsmaggs Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 15, 2009 -> 01:59 PM) Its kind of shocking. Either the Southern League has horrible catchers or Flowers has improved an unbelievable amount since spring training. Probably somewhere in the middle. I am not sure it's possible to improve that much in so short a time, especially in arguably the hardest defensive position in baseball. Although, he seems to have worked hard based on everything I read, so he probably has improved a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalapse Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 QUOTE (knightni @ Aug 13, 2009 -> 04:27 PM) He's making $5 mil right now. He got $4.6M over 2 years coming off a career year (.887 OPS as a backup) at age 31. He's not getting $2M a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3E8 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Flowers looked very competent to me behind the plate in the Futures game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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