ATLANTA -- Travis d'Arnaud and Tyler Flowers both worked out in the Atlanta area on Tuesday. There is a chance that the Braves will activate at least one of these veteran catchers from the COVID-19 list before Wednesday¡¯s home opener against the Rays.

¡°I think if everything goes right, we could see at least one of them tomorrow,¡± Braves manager Brian Snitker said. ¡°It¡¯s just going to be about where they¡¯re at and how they feel. They may need a [couple more days]. But everything has cleared.¡±

d¡¯Arnaud and Flowers did not accompany the team on the season-opening road trip, because both began showing symptoms last week. Both were still feeling under the weather this past weekend, but neither tested positive for COVID-19.

Though the catchers are feeling better and have tested negative multiple times, the Braves still took a cautious approach on Tuesday by having d¡¯Arnaud work out at Truist Park while Flowers was working out at Coolray Field, home of Triple-A Gwinnett.

Snitker spent the past few days saying the hope was that d¡¯Arnaud and Flowers were both just battling a cold or a similar ailment that wouldn¡¯t have necessarily sidelined them if there hadn¡¯t been a fear of them spreading the coronavirus.

¡°I think both of them would tell you it felt good to get out there and run around and sweat,¡± Snitker said. ¡°They probably will feel even better after doing that.¡±

Alex Jackson and William Contreras have served as the Braves¡¯ catchers through the first five games of the season. Jackson had made four career Major League appearances entering this year, and Contreras had never played above the Double-A level. In Tuesday's 5-2 loss to the Rays, Jackson recorded his first career hit.

Genuine appreciation
Braves bench coach Walt Weiss knew exactly how far Tyler Matzek had come when the left-handed reliever tossed a scoreless inning in Sunday night¡¯s win over the Mets.

Weiss was the Rockies¡¯ manager when Matzek debuted with 19 strong starts for Colorado in 2014. He was still in that role when the southpaw¡¯s career was derailed by the yips one year later. Before Sunday, Matzek¡¯s most recent big league appearance occurred on May 6, 2015, against a D-backs lineup that included Ender Inciarte, who has since won three National League Gold Glove Awards for the Braves.

¡°I was like a kid in a candy store,¡± Matzek said. ¡°After the game, [Weiss] came in the clubhouse. ... I just appreciate everything he has ever done for me. He¡¯s always had my back.¡±

Given his own experiences, Matzek also had tremendous respect for Daniel Bard, who pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief against the Rangers to earn the win for the Rockies on Saturday. It was the Bard¡¯s first appearance since yips derailed his career in 2013.

Coincidently, Bard was the D-backs' mental skills coach when Matzek went to Spring Training with Arizona before the 2019 season. So the two shared some time together last year.

¡°He¡¯s just a great dude,¡± Matzek said. ¡°We have a lot in common with our baseball experiences. We were able to talk, and I wouldn¡¯t say figure it out together, but I definitely picked up some things he said and I hope he picked up some things I said. He¡¯s got a great story, and the man is electric.¡±

Smith update
All-Star reliever Will Smith has continued to play catch at Truist Park, and he should soon be cleared to throw off a mound. The lefty was limited to throwing into a net in his yard while he was quarantined for three weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 on July 3. He was cleared to end the quarantine on Sunday.

Smith should be ready to be added to Atlanta¡¯s active roster at some point next week.

¡°He feels good,¡± Snitker said. ¡°You just can¡¯t get up there and throw five [bullpen sessions] in one day. It¡¯s going to take some time.¡±