Braves Give Top Prospect Vote of Confidence, Reassign Veteran Catcher

If the Atlanta Braves want to start the 2025 MLB season with a veteran catcher on the roster to replace Sean Murphy, the Braves will have to go outside the organization.

The Braves reassigned veteran catcher Sandy León to minor league camp on Monday. Although it was an expected move, there was an outside chance León could make the roster for additional veteran catcher depth.

Instead, the Braves appear set to move forward with top prospect Drake Baldwin as the team's starting catcher to begin the regular season. Baldwin caught Spencer Strider in his return to the mound on March 17.

With the León transaction, the Braves are down to 36 players on their MLB roster.

The #Braves today reassigned C Sandy León to minor league camp. Atlanta now has 36 players in camp.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 17, 2025

León started strongly in Spring Training, going 2-for-4 with two home runs in his first three exhibition games. In March, he hit .222 with a .389 slugging percentage in 18 at-bats.

Most of León's MLB experience has been with the Boston Red Sox. The veteran catcher won the World Series with Boston in 2018. But he's also played for the Washington Nationals, Cleveland Indians/Guardians, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.

León spent last season with the Braves, but he didn't appear at the MLB level. At Triple-A Gwinnett, the veteran catcher slashed .181/.328/.262 with nine extra-base hits, 26 RBI and 20 runs in 79 games.

His last MLB appearance was with the Rangers during the 2023 season. León hit .146 with a .381 OPS, going 6-for-41 with two doubles in 44 plate appearances over 21 games.

The veteran catcher finished batting .273 with a .986 OPS this spring.

Murphy suffered a cracked rib on a hit-by-pitch on Feb. 28. Murphy is expected to miss 4-6 weeks, which means he will probably not be available for Opening Day.

Without Murphy, the Braves are likely to enter the regular season with Baldwin and Chadwick Tromp as the catchers on their MLB roster. Tromp was expected to serve as Murphy's backup this season, but he could be Baldwin's backup to begin 2025. Baldwin is likely to play every day at whatever level he is at so he can continue his development.

The Braves will have to cut 10 more players to move down to the maximum 26 players allowed on an MLB roster. Opening Day is scheduled for March 27.