Braves Catcher Elects For Free Agency After Being Designated for Assignment

After spending parts of four seasons with the Braves, this catcher's time with the organization comes to an end

Tromp's time with the Braves has come to an end | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Catcher Chadwick Tromp has elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A, the Atlanta Braves announced on Tuesday. 

Tromp was designated for assignment on Sunday after the Braves activated starting catcher Sean Murphy from the Injured List. They opted to keep rookie catcher and top prospect Drake Baldwin up in the big leagues to work in tandem with Murphy. 

He played in just two regular-season games and had six plate appearances. He went hitless and reached base once on a walk.

He had been in the Braves organization since 2022, making the occasional appearances along with Murphy and Travis d’Arnaud - the latter departed for the Los Angeles Angels over the recent offseason. He played in 28 games for the Braves and finished his tenure with a slash line of .234/.235/.385. 

Murphy is expected to return to the lineup on Tuesday when the Braves start their series with the Philadelphia Phillies. He had been out since early in Spring Training with a cracked rib that came on a hit by pitch. Starting the regular season on the Injured List was expected. 

He spent his rehab assignment with the Gwinnett Stripers. He batted .200 with a .700 OPS with a home run and two RBIs in his three rehab games. 

Baldwin has been seeing the ball well since the start of the season but has only been starting to find a hole here and there over the last few games. For the season, he’s batting .154 with a .434 OPS. However, he’s 3-for-8 with a walk, a double and an RBI in his last couple games.