Braves catcher Tyler Flowers has been hitting and catching without difficulty as he recovers from a strained left oblique.
He’s expected to begin a rehab assignment Sunday or Monday, according to manager Brian Snitker. He likely will join Single-A Rome because Triple-A Gwinnett is on the road.
Flowers could play in five or six games before rejoining the big-league club. Snitker reiterated he could join the team sometime during its coming three-city trip to Cincinnati, Philadelphia and New York.
“I’ll talk to him about that,” Snitker said of how many rehab games Flowers would need. “Guys who’ve been around a bit, I don’t think it takes them – it’ll determine actually getting out there playing and seeing how he feels once he starts the game competition. It’s different from working out and hitting, batting practice. So we’ll probably take it a day at a time and see how he feels.”
Flowers left a game March 29 and was placed on the disabled list a day later. He was limited to 19 at-bats in spring training and was slowed by groin soreness the last week in Florida.
