The Braves have agreed to a minor league deal with free-agent utilityman Charlie Culberson, as first indicated on the MLB.com transactions log. Culberson, a Ballengee Group client, opted out of a minor league deal with the Rays earlier this week. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Gwinnett.
It’ll be an overwhelmingly popular move among Braves fans, many of whom grew to love Culberson during his 2018-20 stretch with the club. The versatile infielder/outfielder has spent more time in a Braves uniform than any other in his 10-year career. In 230 games, he’s tallied 473 plate appearances and batted .265/.314/.454 with Atlanta. The best season of Culberson’s career came in 2018, when he set personal highs in games played (113), plate appearances (322), doubles (18) and home runs (12).
The past three seasons, including his brief final showing with Atlanta, have seen a pronounced downturn in Culberson’s production, however. Dating back to 2020, he’s slashed just .244/.289/.371 in 402 trips to the plate. The bulk of that action has come with the Rangers, for whom he played in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Culberson has appeared at every position on the diamond other than catcher and center field in his decade-long career, including 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in mop-up duty (albeit with just one strikeout). Third base has been his primary position in the Majors, but he has more than 400 innings at second base, at shortstop and in left field as well. Culberson has generally struggled against right-handed pitching (.217/.277/.348), but he’s a .285/.313/.431 hitter against lefties in his career.
The Braves currently have Ehire Adrianza on the big league roster as a utility infielder, but Culberson could work his way up to the big league club in the event of injuries in the Atlanta infield.
Maybe Charlie will regain the same mojo Jesse Chavez gets from wearing the Braves’ uni.
The power of wearing that tomahawk on your chest is unmatched.
Maybe Charlie will regain the same mojo Jesse Chavez gets by putting on that Braves uni.
Welcome back Charlie!
WORLD SERIES HERE WE COME!
A poor man’s Dansby Swanson. Most casual Braves fans wouldn’t know the difference if you gave him #7. A lot cheaper than $177M.
Cheaper for a reason. Culberson is awful, despite Braves fans’ fascination with him.
He hit two walk off homers in a single week for them during his last stint with the Bravos. That alone is going to garner a solid bit of goodwill from a fan base. People tend to remember that kind of stuff. “Charlie Clutch”
There is also “the throw”. No more needs to be said, all Braves fans know which play that was
Oh my God, that throw was epic.
Cushy Braves team wouldnt even win 85 games playing in NY when the target is on your back. They’d have a total mental breakdown
Nobody gets up for a game against Atlanta. The whole league laid down for them because the Mets were 10 ahead. Meanwhile every game the Mets play is like a playoff game to the other team
If you didn’t win it in NY, you haven’t done it yet
Thats a really naive comment
You’re the naive one to think the Pirates, etc don’t get up more for a game vs NY
On top of that, games in NYC everyone is looking to show what they can do
Games in Atlanta are never showcase games
Shame the Mets showcased Choketober in Atlanta, since it’s so easy to win there.
No one cares about New York but New Yorkers. There’s a reason the Subway Series had some of the lowest national ratings of any World Seies.
Is this meant to be serious or a joke? I understand the mystique of the Yankees, but the Mets haven’t really been relevant on a national scale since the late 80s. I admire that Cohen is trying to change that, but to say that teams look at playing them being akin to a World Series game is beyond asinine.
I think the Mets are a better team than you think they are! And Im a Braves fan.
I don’t think anyone is saying the Mets aren’t good. We’re laughing at the notion that being from New York or playing in New York is special in some way.
Teams usually get up to play teams that win something, remind me again what the mets have won lately?
Did Chipper Jones spill your beer or something with a home run ball? “The whole league laid down”? Yep every other team in baseball collectively said “we don’t want the Mets to win the division so let’s allow the Braves to beat us because suck it Mets” and then to go on and say that any team who doesn’t play in New York or go through New York teams doesn’t actually count as a win? So what happens when the New York teams choke and don’t advance? It still doesn’t count? No one fears the Mets because they haven’t earned it or won anything of note in a long time
No one even cares about NY and their loud, short, crybaby fans. One team hasn’t won a WS since 1986, and the other since 2009.
I don’t have a dog in this fight but didn’t the braves win the season series against the Mets? New York fans are the worst baseball fans. They only know the players on their team and think they are better than everyone.
Camden muted me. I guess he’d have a total mental breakdown if he had to read my posts.
I got a belly laugh out of his comment about “getting up” to play a game in NY.
Is that the new user name for Put It In The Books?
Might be wrong, but I think Books got banned for some comments he made a few weeks ago. He was going under the name SteveCohenOwnsYou at the time.
Not again! SMH.
Rather have Culberson than Adrianza.
Keep in mind that any results from the 2017-2019 time frame occurred when many teams were stealing signs using video technology. To expect those results now would be foolish (hello Jed Hoyer / Bellinger).
Since the Braves joIned the NL east in 1994 they have won the division 16 times. That’s 16 of 28 seasons. Why would someone describe something as “like a playoff game in New York” when clearly there are considerably more playoff games in Atlanta?
OOPS! I was just corrected!. I counted the streaks but skipped the Braves division win in 2013 and since there were no playoffs in ’94 thats actually 17 titles in 27 years.
Now that Swanson is gone, the Braves have to have their favorite look-alike back. Plus Charlie could commute to work from his childhood home. Welcome back Charlie!
Culberson is another veteran in the mix that can fill in at multiple spots. Someone posted it earlier, when a guy puts that tomahawk across their chest more times than not they show up on the field. Let’s go Braves Country.
Ohh and if anyone has a Connect” on that City Connect Jersey and Cap let me know. Won’t get down to the A till Thursday and will probably have to scour the 404 to get one.
An under-the-radar move…
I love this move!