The Braves introduced yesterday that catcher Curt Casali was reassigned to minor league camp. They introduced the identical with Sandy León as we speak. Casali has been launched, in keeping with his transactions tracker at MLB.com.
It now appears extremely possible that prospect Drake Baldwin will break camp with the membership. Atlanta hasn’t made any agency bulletins however Sean Murphy goes to begin the season on the injured checklist attributable to a cracked rib. That leaves Chadwick Tromp as the one wholesome catcher on the 40-man roster, that means Atlanta wants so as to add somebody. Casali and Leon have been in camp as NRIs however that’s now not the case. Except Atlanta brings in a catcher from exterior the group, then it looks like Baldwin will get an Opening Day job.
Baldwin, 24 this month, is likely one of the prime catching prospects within the sport. A 3rd-round decide within the 2022 draft, he break up final 12 months between Double-A and Triple-A. He received into 124 video games in complete, together with 72 on the prime minor league stage. Mixed, he had a 13.1% stroll fee and 17.2% strikeout fee on the 12 months. He hit 16 dwelling runs and slashed .276/.370/.423 for a 119 wRC+.
Coming into 2025, Baldwin is a consensus prime 100 prospect. Baseball America presently has him within the #53 spot, noting that he profiles as a reliable defender who’s getting robust critiques for his work with pitchers.
Atlanta turned down a membership choice on Travis d’Arnaud at first of the offseason, leaving Murphy and Tromp as the 2 catchers on the roster. Murphy’s damage opened a path for Baldwin to earn a job to begin the season. He has actually finished all the things he can to benefit from that chance. He enters as we speak with a spring batting line of .370/.485/.444.
That can seemingly be sufficient to get him a crack on the massive leagues, at the very least to begin the season. When Murphy suffered his cracked rib in early March, it was introduced that he can be out of motion for 4 to 6 weeks. He might due to this fact be again on the sector in April however will possible want a little bit of a rehab task to successfully redo his spring coaching.
Whereas he does that, the workforce will see how Baldwin does towards main league pitching. If he does nicely, maybe he and Murphy might share the catching duties going ahead, although Tromp is out of choices. Which means he would must be faraway from the 40-man roster, except the membership needs to hold three catchers when Murphy is wholesome. However even the perfect prospects generally battle when first promoted to the majors. If that occurs with Baldwin, he could be optioned again to Triple-Some time Murphy and Tromp deal with issues. For now, Baldwin will want a 40-man roster spot, although that may very well be simply completed by placing Joe Jiménez on the 60-day injured checklist.
Casali, 36, was in camp on a minor league deal. He’s been within the massive leagues for over a decade now, typically offering strong protection with flashes of offense, although he hasn’t hit a lot up to now two years. He had a profession batting line of .223/.316/.392 and 92 wRC+ on the finish of the 2022 season, however he has slashed .186/.292/.229 over the previous two campaigns for a 52 wRC+. His struggles have continued into this spring. He has 15 plate appearances in camp with Atlanta with no hits, no walks and 7 strikeouts. The one time he reached base was on a hit-by-pitch.
That’s a small pattern however clearly not an excellent displaying, particularly when in comparison with what Baldwin has been as much as. Casali is an Article XX(B) free agent, that means that he has at the very least six years of service time and completed final season on a serious league roster or injured checklist. Which means he has assured opt-out dates on his minor league deal: 5 days earlier than Opening Day, Could 1 and June 1.
Since he wasn’t going to interrupt camp with Atlanta, he was possible going to choose out and search for different alternatives. The membership has seemingly let him go a bit early, permitting him to get a headstart on discovering his subsequent gig.
Regardless of his tough spring, he ought to get curiosity primarily based on his observe file. There are a number of golf equipment across the league with damage issues. The Mets are going to be with out Francisco Alvarez for some time. The Reds will begin the season with Tyler Stephenson on the IL and Jose Trevino is banged up as nicely. The Giants have Patrick Bailey behind the plate however Tom Murphy will begin the 12 months on the IL and received’t be capable to again him up. Casali might maybe discover a contemporary minor league take care of a kind of golf equipment or circle again to Atlanta after making just a few calls.
