After making the team’s Opening Day 2025 roster, it was a quick exit from Atlanta for the veteran reserve catcher, Chadwick Tromp, who originally joined the organization back in 2021.
How acquired?
Tromp
was an international free agent signee by the Cincinnati Reds in 2013 out of Aruba. He made his big league debut in 2020 after signing with the Giants as a free agent after the 2019 season. After bumming around the Giants’ organization for a couple of years, the Trompical Storm was routed to Atlanta via waivers in late September 2021, and made landfall on the roster later that year. He’s been yo-yoed up and down since, including one instance where he elected free agency but re-signed with the Braves anyway.
What were the expectations?
Tromp came into 2025 having appeared in 59 career games over parts of five seasons in the majors, putting up 0.4 fWAR in 156 PAs, a fairly respectable rate for a no-bat backup catcher (66 career wRC+). That value came from some strong framing, though a lot of that was accrued in his 2020 debut season with the Giants.
Coming into Spring Training, Tromp looked like had the inside track to the back-up catcher job after Travis d’Arnaud departed the organization. With Sean Murphy the presumptive starter and prospect Drake Baldwin expected to begin the season at Triple-A, Tromp figured to have a big league spot unless or until Baldwin’s bat pressed the issue. It wasn’t exactly the catcher tandem the Braves have rolled with, but Tromp is far from the worst backup option out there because of his defensive ability.
2025 results
Tromp’s time with the Braves ended pretty quickly. When Murphy fractured a rib a couple of weeks into Spring Training, the door for Baldwin was opened, and with Baldwin on the big league roster, he was thrust into the starting role with Tromp in reserve. When Murphy was ready to be activated, the out-of-options Tromp was designated for assignment on April 6. He became a free agent and signed with the Baltimore Orioles. In late July, he was on the move again, landing with the Boston Red Sox organization after being cut loose by the Orioles.
In total, he appeared in eight big league games — six with the Orioles and two with the Braves. He went hitless in six plate appearances with Atlanta, with a walk. He finished with -0.1 fWAR and a 38 wRC+.
What went right?
Tromp, 30, is the quintessential third/fourth catcher for an organization, and can serve as a backup where catching depth is thin. He’s an in-demand depth player, which means he’ll probably get opportunities like he did in 2025 for at least another five years, but those will likely be top-level minor league opportunities where he is a call away from a stint on big league roster.
He did hit his first big league home run since 2021 while with Baltimore. That said, he literally had just three positive WPA events all season, and one of them came on a leadoff walk he drew with the Braves while down two in the sixth, so we’ll have to go with that as his Braves 2025 highlight.
What went wrong?
Tromp seemed to be in-line for his longest big league run coming into the regular season, but Baldwin forced the issue early in the season with his work behind the plate and his hitting. When Murphy returned a couple of weeks into the season, Tromp was the odd man out. After joining Baltimore, he dealt with a lower back issue that landed him on the IL as the Orioles struggled with multiple injuries to their backstops.
After an outstanding offensive season at Triple-A in 2024 (123 wRC+), he struggled in the minors and the majors, offensively in 2025, with a 41 wRC+ across all his different minor league stops and the aforementioned 38 wRC+ in the majors.
Here’s Tromp’s lowest-WPA play of the year as a Brave, an inning-ending double play that in the end, was kind of irrelevant because the Braves lost 5-0:
2026 outlook
Tromp will almost certainly be looking for a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation in 2026, and he should probably get it. With Atlanta already bringing in catcher Austin Nola on a minor league deal — and landing Chuckie Robinson late in the regular season, similar to how they originally acquired Tromp — the Braves seem set with their third and fourth catcher, assuming Baldwin and Murphy both return in 2026. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Tromp return to the organization in future seasons, but that seems unlikely in 2026.
Heading into his age-31 season and coming off a horrible offensive year everywhere, he’s probably a bit less interesting than he was before, but could still probably serve as a team’s big league backup catcher in a pinch.
