Due to injuries to both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy, the Atlanta Braves are currently having to dip into their reserve tank for help at the catcher spot. Part of that help had been provided by Chadwick Tromp, who did deliver a walk-off knock not too long ago. With that being said, Sandy León has been getting most of the reps behind the dish since the both of them became the top catchers’ duo in Atlanta and as a result, Tromp is now the latest Braves player to take the uncertain ride on the DFA
cycle.
The Braves announced that they’ve acquired catcher Austin Wynns from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash considerations. Wynns is clearly taking the place of Tromp on the roster because Tromp has now been designated for assignment.
To put this in the nicest terms possible, Wynns has been very underwhelming at the plate so far this season. He’s had 43 plate appearances with the SacramentoAthletics where he hit .077/.143/.077 with a .285 wOBA, a -40 wRC+ and three runs scored. Wynns had been released by the A’s in mid-May, picked up by the Angels a few days afterwards and stashed at their Triple-A affiliate from then until now, as he’s been acquired by the Braves and subsequently called up from Triple-A as well. With all of that being said, Wynns does play some solid defense and as evidenced by the fact that León is getting regularly playing time seemingly solely due to his defense, the Braves have made their decision as to what they value from the catcher’s spot while Baldwin and Murphy are gone.
There was also some shuffling going on elsewhere on the roster that corresponded with this move. Outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. apparently had an opt-out in his contract where if he wasn’t added to Atlanta’s major league roster by a certain date, he could elect free agency. Well, apparently the Braves didn’t want to lose Keirsey to an opt-out because they called him up to the bigs and then immediately sent him back down to Triple-A. Congratulations on your return to the big leagues, DaShawn Keirsey Jr., we hope you enjoyed your time while it lasted.
Anyways, in order to make roster space for all of this to happen, Sean Murphy has now been transferred to the 60-day IL. This was always going to happen once the Braves needed a roster spot since Murphy’s going to be out for a significant period of time with that fractured finger. This doesn’t change anything with his recovery timeline but it does mean that the Braves can now maneuver with him being on the long-term IL instead of taking up a roster spot on the short-term IL.
So there you have it! There’s some more roster shuffling for you. What do y’all make of all these moves?
