Braves catcher Tyler Flowers was forced to leave Saturday game with a strained left hand. The injury stems from last weekend’s Miami series, when Flowers was struck on the same hand on July 1 by A.J. Ramos.
He reaggravated the same area during his first at-bat on a check-swing in the second inning. He tried to return to catch in the bottom of the inning but quickly yielded to A.J. Pierzynski. If anything, the All-Star break makes for convenient timing.
“I guess it’s kind of the best time to happen,” Flowers said. “Extend the break a little bit. We’ll see what happens. I think we’ll reevaluate in a couple days and see where we’re at.”
Flowers sustained a fracture of the same hand when he was hit by a pitch on the next-to-last day of the 2011 season. The injury forced him to miss winter league, although early indications suggest this injury is not so severe.
“We give him (Sunday off) and I think by Friday, he’ll be fine,” interim manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m sure we’ll have our guys look at him when he gets back on Monday and make sure. You never know with hands. There are so many small bones in there. But the preliminary stuff, it’s just a strain. I think they feel real good about him being OK.”
