Most Improved Player
Tyler Flowers (catcher)
Sep 22, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Chicago White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers (21) throws out Detroit Tigers center fielder Ezequiel Carrera (not pictured) on an attempted butt in the seventh inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
This was a very close vote, with Flowers receiving the most votes, while Conor Gillaspie (third base) and Jose Quintana (pitcher) also received a vote as well.
Flowers had a good and bad season, but he did have a flair to gain a big hit when called upon, including a game where he hit a walk-off home run in the 12th inning against the Oakland Athletics with three weeks left in the season.
The starting catcher at time made fans cheer at the top of their lungs with plays like the aforementioned walk-off home run, and at times made them want to rip their hair out of their skulls.
In 127 games in ’14, Flowers batted .241, 23 points higher than his career average, and he hit 15 home runs, nearly half of his career total of 37 home runs.
Looking at his monthly batting averages, Flowers batted .369 in April, but settled down with a .208 average in May and .129 in June.
Then something changed when he started wearing Oakley glasses when he went to the plate. From the months of July-September, his overall game at the plate then improved quite a bit.
In July, Flowers batted .269, followed by a .213 average in August, and in September, he batted .268.
The ’14 season of Flowers could be described as a “whirlwind,” but again, it was much improved from his .195 batting average of ’13 in 84 games.