Charlie Culberson has re-signed with the Braves on a minor league deal and will report to minor league camp as a pitcher, per reports from Jon Heyman of The New York Post and Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Culberson, 35 in April, has served as a utility player in the majors for over a decade now. He debuted with the Giants back in 2012 and has since suited up for the Rockies, Dodgers, Braves and Rangers, getting into 590 games in his career. He’s never been a huge threat at the plate, having hit .248/.293/.385 overall for a wRC+ of 76, but he has generally received strong defensive grades while lining up at every position on the diamond except catcher and center field.
That includes some brief stints on the mound, which have gone well. He has tossed 7 1/3 innings over his eight appearances in the big leagues, allowing just one earned run, three walks and seven hits while striking out one opponent. He also made four appearances in Triple-A last year, allowing two earned runs in 3 2/3 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. As noted by Toscano, Culberson was clocked at 93.7 miles per hour in an appearance back in 2018. In Triple-A last year, he hit 93.1.
Perhaps focusing on pitching full-time will allow him to push that velocity further, or maybe it will be harder for him to maintain it with a larger workload. Attempting to suddenly become a pitcher on the cusp of one’s 35th birthday is obviously an unusual path but there’s some logic to it for Culberson. He would have been hard-pressed to find a meaningful role as a utility player going forward. In 2023, he had two separate month-long stints on the big league roster in Atlanta but received just one major league plate appearance for the year. Incidentally, he got a single and finished the year with a slash line of 1.000/1.000/1.000 and a wRC+ of 475. But instead of languishing on the bench or in the minors again, he’ll take a different path.
It will also be fun storyline for supporters of the club. Culberson has become something of a fan favorite over his many stints with Atlanta and he’ll now set his sights on a new and surprising task.
Braveslifer
Good for him.
Shadow_Banned
3-0 pitch…Ohtani! Blasts this one out of orbit, a monstrous 540 foot home run! 6-0 Dodgers!
migg
Did Ohtani just hit a 6-run-HR?
Shadow_Banned
They were already up 5-0
greyishwhitesox
If someone can, it’s him
ChipperChop
@sb I think you’re confused. It was Ronald that hit the 120mph bomb at Dodger stadium a few months ago that made Mookie grimace and Dave Robert’s say “I’ve never seen anything like that before” postgame. If Otani is ever able to pitch again against the Braves, Dave will be able to say he’s seen it twice.
Shadow_Banned
^_^ as if taking our sloppy seconds Anthopoulos wasn’t enough. Let’s hope both teams face off in October so we can put a spanky spank on them.
ChipperChop
Zero chance that happens. Mookie is guaranteed to go 0-20 or however many AB’s he gets in the playoffs, Freddie won’t do a thing until the game is out of hand and Otani has never played in a playoff game. Whoever the Dodgers play first round will send them home. And I can guarantee at least a few of the higher ups for the Dodgers are wishing the kept AA so they wouldn’t have to spend a billion to win.
Shadow_Banned
We’ll see. LA has practically had ATL by the balls these last 10 playoffs
LonnieB
Pretty sure the Braves had the last laugh the last time so you dodgers have to show up next time. Never forget Tyler Matzek sitting down a first ballot and mookie in one inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd no outs……
Mic dropped
LonnieB
Spitting straight fire works right now!!!
LonnieB
Short term memory loss?!?! Pretty sure we knocked you out in 21 and you guys won the 2020 tee ball short season right? When was the last one before that?
Shadow_Banned
Your team tried and failed in 2020 so how does that work?
It doesn’t matter to me much each year we’re gonna be good and I’m happy with that
ATL Shawty
Cut that out…you must have been asleep in 2021
MWeller77
That’s a great point, Chipper. I mean, AA’s team has won the last 4 pennants and 2 of the last 4 WS…wait, what? Atlanta lost in the first round the past two years just like the Dodgers? And split the NCLS with the Dodgers in 2020-21?
This argument would make sense coming from a Phillies or Astros fan, and the Dodgers definitely need to figure out why they can’t hit or pitch from game 163 forward, but “Dodgers should have kept AA so you can win” is just silly coming from an Atlanta fan.
chiefnocahoma1
They literally lost the last time. Take your meds.
richardc
I take offense to that Shadow…
Have you seen Alex Anthopoulos? There’s nothing sloppy about him. Brother doesn’t have a single hair out of place, thank you very much..lol
Tonyb45
You get the downside of our sloppy seconds at first base. You get a question mark of Ohtani for nearly a billion. Quite an expensive DH if you ask me.
Shadow_Banned
You’re right, you guys got Charlie Culberson. Rather have him than Ohtani. lol
fivepoundbass
I have to say, I appreciate the team-related trash talk. Much better than the grammar police, personal attacks, and WAR mongering you usually see here. Glad I got to see my Rangers outlast both of you. I don’t expect that will happen again this season.
Landers
LA is about 5 years and 0 WS away from becoming a much failier version of the 90s ‘yeah-but-they-only-won-one’ Braves. Braves didn’t have be top payroll/ponzi scheme to do their run.
Landers
LA is just a bunch of fame chasing mercs. Ohtani didnt want present value 500M? Instead he wanted a pretend 700M for 2 days so ppl could hear his name.
Freemans wife so thirsty for even a drop of Taylor swift shrapnel. Freeman goin to some nonOscars award show. My goodness.
Shadow_Banned
@Flanders
Braves lost like 6 straight WS in the 90s? Kinda pathetic if you think about it
Landers
@shadow (anyone named shadow over the age of 12 is lol)
If your math is right (it’s not), yes. Also pathetic is 17 playoff appearances and 1* WS.
Seriously tho. LA better win one (probably 2) or it’s gona get historically lol-ish. Financial schemes n all. It’ll be a hell of a documentary.
LonnieB
Dodgers are dripping with mediocrity but soaking with fame.
NashvilleJeff
@Shadow Banned: The Braves lost 4 of 5 WS in the 90’s. If you’re going to post those childish little troll bites try to get your facts straight.
Guyerbassist
The way CY is going this offseason, it won’t happen again for awhile. Signing starters that you know won’t be ready till middle of the season, and not replacing your dh or signing a quality closer or back end of bullpen guy. I think he’s still hungover from winning
SE_Beast
It’ll be a long road for him. He’ll likely be traded in May, then traded to be brought back in June, before finally getting a chance to step on the mound in Atlanta. Wishing him the best to endure these hurdles
NYCityRiddler
I say go for it, he can’t do any worse than he did as a player. Gotta keep those checks rollin in. Ahahaha!
LonnieB
Must be a Mets fan lol. He’s probably hit 2 of his 3 homers off you guys’ 1-2 though so he’s a rider in ATL.
Braves4410
Go Charlie! Glad the Braves gave him an opportunity to do this in the minors.
Rob Schumann
Good for him. Do what you can to prolong your career.
Ham Fighter
Shohei Culberson!
#LCDad
Charlie Ohtani has a nice ring…
bjhaas1977
Reverse Rick Ankel.
DarkSide830
The Jason Lane!
braveshomer
That’s immediately who I thought of too lol
AHH-Rox
Matt Bush but without the crime.
CrikesAlready
It is fair and just to remind people of what that criminal did.
Ted
There’s actually a bunch of these guys. Anthony Gose comes to mind recently, and he made 28 pitching appearances in the bigs after several years as a MLB outfielder. Sergio Santos made it to AAA as a SS before becoming a pitcher.
It’s definitely more common to see hitters at the collegiate or low minors level (Tim Hudson, Jacob DeGrom, etc) become pitchers than the other way around. I think it speaks to the unbelievable challenge of hitting a major league baseball, and really highlights how amazing Ankiel’s conversion was.
Smacky
Christian Bethancourt was the Braves #1 prospect as a catcher for quite a while, then he pitched for a couple teams and now he’s back catching again.
SocoComfort
Mark Lemke
Ted
Lemke, of course, is most notable for having the all-time record of 3,664 plate appearances without ever being hit by a pitch.
SocoComfort
Yea I was surprised when I heard he tried to make a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher lol.
quonset point
I hope for his success
swagsuperawesomeepiccoolman123
i love this, i wish him for all the success
Bob Sacamano 310
“It will also be fun storyline for supporters of the club.”
When your team is as good of a team as the Braves are going to be, you don’t need those ha
TradeAcuna
Trade Iglesias. We found the Braves closer!
Chris from NJ
Cool. Hope he makes it. Definitely will be an uphill battle. His arm doesn’t have any mileage so who knows. Doubtful but wish him the best.
PutPeteinthehall
Think Nolan Ryan. He was off for military service for his late teens early twenties. He credits this for having a healthy arm throughout his career.
Bob Sacamano 310
If he is somehow able to make it as a pitcher, could he serve as a backup IF/RP, 2-way player?
Holden Bases
Anyone can be designated as such, so yes.
vaderzim
I’ll always remember him as the guy who thought he hit a Game-Tying Home Run in the Bottom of the 11th in Game 2 of the 2017 World Series.
Saint Nick
Dope!
Salzilla
Good luck, dude!
getrealgone2
Gotta keep those female Braves fans over 55 happy.
EM41
Now the Braves just need to re-sign Jesse Chavez. Together they can anchor the Braves bullpen for the rest of the decade.
Rick Wilkins
Man. Called the guy a laughingstock. These writers on here are getting weak.
Bob Sacamano 310
Huh?
Rick Wilkins
The writer changed his post now. Instead of “languishing on the bench”, he originally said “instead of being a laughingstock”. Bush comment by the writer.
braveshomer
that’s pretty bad if that’s true
Rick Wilkins
I ain’t lyin’. I could understand if this was some fanboy team website, but these guys are supposed to be somewhat professional. I bet not one teammate of Charlie’s would ever characterize him as a laughingstock. I miss the Jeffrey Todd and Ben Nicholson-Smith era. Those guys had personality and kept it pro. Steve’s still pretty good, but it’s like a high school paper around anymore.
TrumboRedux
Guarantee you it was an innocent mistake. “Laughingstock” “Languishing.” That has spell-check gremlin written all over it. It’s obvious isn’t it? Give Darragh a bit more credit for brains.
TrumboRedux
Simple spell check snafu. Nothing ominous.
TrumboRedux
Or “auto correct.” Whatever you wanna call it.
Rick Wilkins
Lol, You’re really chocking this up to autocorrect?! Bro, the sentence was “instead of being or becoming a laughingstock”, and you think he meant to type languishing? The becoming just got thrown in by accident huh, or did he mean being or becoming a languishing? Give me a break man. It was a bush league shot that didn’t need to be taken, hence the fact that he changed it.
Rick Wilkins
All I’m saying is it was a dumb thing to say. Changed now, so it doesn’t really matter. He is what he is.
TrumboRedux
Nope. Auto correct issue. Darragh gets the benefit of the doubt.
Rick Wilkins
Gotcha. You’re delusional. My bad for trying to rationalize with you. There, I threw you a like. Enjoy your evening man.
BrianStrowman9
the AI writing this failed him.
TrumboRedux
You are making up stuff up out of thin air, and I am delusional? You are the true “laughingstock” my friend. You don’t have to lie for attention. Just try and talk baseball..
Slow day at work
The writer probably has one of those AI writing assistance programs. He originally wrote “instead of *typo* on the bench”, then erroneously corrected the typo to laughingstock and then the AI restructured the sentence to the final product.
The AI probably rewrote the whole article and the writer just clicked “approve all” on the changes or quickly went one by one without paying much attention.
TrumboRedux
Slow day, Yeah that’s exactly what I was saying. I mean, it wouldn’t even make since to call him a LAUGHINGSTOCK, of all things…In what reality would Darragh say that ya know? If people can’t see how “languishing” and “laughingstock” could get screwed up with auto correct or AI then I can’t really help em….Hopefully Darragh see’s these posts later and jumps in to correct the record.
Rick Wilkins
Making stuff up out of thin air? You think I read that paragraph, and made all this up? Lol. Sorry I offended your boyfriend, but I’m telling the truth troll.
TrumboRedux
Relaaaaaxxx Zachary. I believe you.
spooky
Don’t sweat it Zach, Trumbo is a joke. He’ll post 40 times in a row with the mentality that if he continues to say the same thing over and over again that it becomes truth
TrumboRedux
Lol Spooky, you obviously have me confused with someone else. I am quite sure I had you muted as well. This lack of muting ability is turning into a troll free for all. Go piss up a rope spooky dookie!
spooky
Mute away bro, my comment was to Zachary. There is no confusion, you are definitely the poster I was warning him about
TrumboRedux
You sound like a whiny little pansy amigo. I must have skewered you pretty good on here before…You should probably heed your own warning instead of nursing poor baby Zach. He is a big boy and doesn’t need you latching him onto your chest everytime he sticks his foot in his mouth.
spooky
Hahaha, look at him. Trumbo tries calling others trolls yet he’s always freaking out. Time for your meds little buddy
TrumboRedux
Lol Always freaking out? Uh huh ok. Dude I am pretty bored with this now..It was a nice chat but I am gonna finish watching the Sandlot and plan dinner. And of course take my anti-psychotics as you so kindly reminded me. Can’t wait till our next chat <3
TrumboRedux
Davey, aren’t you the guy who posts like 50 “deferral” jokes on a daily basis? I think you should try a bit of introspection. I’ve tried muting you as well (after you posted your 500th deferral joke) to no avail. See what I have to deal with now? Your opinion is not welcome with me my good lad. Shoo shoo and have a good day. You are interupting my movie!!
TrumboRedux
Yes yes fine fine. You win. Now PLEASE let me finish my movie!!! I gotta rewind 10mins now!! Benny is about to meet The Babe in his dream. It’s my favorite part!
TrumboRedux
Dumbo is the elephant! I have never heard of “The Swarm.” And if you don’t know about Benny and The Babe, they are from “The Sandlot.” A requisite movie for any aspiring baseball fan.
TrumboRedux
They make TV’s that big?!?!? I’m actually watching it on one of those portable 2inchers. Like the one Michael Douglas was watching in the restaurant in “Wall Street.” It has an AUX hookup, so yes, I have that wired to the VCR. And I found a half eaten bag of chips on the ground outside earlier. A few bugs but no big deal. So I am snacking on those. And the pruno is almost ready. So yeah it’s a real party over here amigo.
TrumboRedux
I never wanted to scrap man. I really thought Darragh would not post something like that intentionally. And I tried to explain myself and then the tide turned. No big deal though. I normally just shoot the breeze with my pals on here and not monopolize the threads. I come in peace. Most of the time.
TrumboRedux
Never heard of “Sugar” but am ALWAYS looking for new baseball movies! I’ll check it out! I lied, I actually have a real size TV with streaming so I can probably find it.
TrumboRedux
Yeah those are cool. I really liked the documentary on Miguel Sano like 8 years ago and they had a good one on HBO a while back called “Bad Hombres” about guys trying to make one of the pro teams in Mexico.
Braves_saints_celts
Trumbo, me and you have had a few nice baseball chats on here, although very brief, and we aren’t close like you and clip, and some others but you are a real cool guy to talk baseball with. Always some guy on here trying to stir the pot and make something bigger than it should be. I personally enjoy your baseball input. Keep it up man, and ignore the trolls, way to many of them on here!
Rick Wilkins
You don’t have pals, troll. No one likes you. Probably not even your family.
TrumboRedux
Zach, I accept your apology and hope your weekend is going swell. Hope the Cubs sign Belli for you today!
Tyson’s Pet Tiger
good luck to the dodger legend, charlie culberson.
Bob Sacamano 310
I didn’t realize he only had 1 AB. Pretty awesome he got a hit in it lol
TrumboRedux
He did it for Archie Graham!
PaulyMidwest
Hope he makes it. Would be a great story for a good dude.
Rsox
How hard does he throw? Does it register on the radar gun? Could be a “Doc Wingate” type of reliever
oldgfan
You could read the article maybe if you want to know .
Prospectnvstr
Rsox: How about ACTUALLY READING the article BEFORE you comment? It PLAINLY says it.
DroppedThirdStrike
I’m betting he probably, most likely, going by his utility profile, subtracting for age and wear and tear, that he throws in the, I don’t know, maybe the 93.1-93.7 mph range.
Best guess
Outfieldflyrule??
No chance of leading anywhere but hey, someone needs to cover minor league innings, right?
PhanaticDuck26
Bro is going to extreme lengths to prove that he’s not Dansby Swanson.
TrumboRedux
LOL!!
Cedi
Great for him, I hope he is successful!
Although the definition of “has gone well” when referring to his previous pitching experience is a tad suspect.
Citizen1
Culberson is really determined to be in that Braves lineup. Hope Snitker and AA let him play.
TheDayMILBDied
Hopefully he has more luck then Ben Davis had.
Bart Harley Jarvis
AA is playing 21 dimensional chess.
Braves Butt-Head
It’s a gimmick to sell tickets in Gwinnett he can sign autographs and come in for mop up duty .
bravesfan1976
Not true at all. He was brought in 4th inning with a 2-0 lead to relieve Waldrep on 09/23. They are taking this seriously.
Waldrep
4.1 4 0 0 3 5 0 0.00
Culberson
0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 4.91
Tabata's Adopted Son
I suddenly wish MLBTR was around for the Michael Jordan days. Comments would’ve been lit.
acoss13
Jordan goes 0 for 4, but no one looks as good striking out as His Airness!
Maybe something like that?
THEY LIVE!!!
who was the guy who pitched with both hands?
TrumboRedux
Jim Abbott..?
THEY LIVE!!!
Pat Venditte, was the pitcher who pitched both left and right.
phenomenalajs
Correct. He had to declare which arm he was using before a switch hitter got to choose which side of the plate.
PutPeteinthehall
Lmfao. That being said he was a helluva of an athlete. Better that almost anyone would be with both hands. Hope he’s well!
bravesfan79
Good for him, he’s always been a team player, and an awesome clubhouse presence.
Jesse Chavez enthusiast
Well I mean, he’s thrown 94mph on the mound before so why not?
soxshortstop
Red Sox need a starter.
LonnieB
Charlie C could pencil in at number 3 for the Sox right now right?
nowayjose18
Anthony Gose was able to do it and came out well before TJ. Culberson has a shot to do the same and excel
BrianStrowman9
It also took Gose 4 years to finally work his way into being a low leverage reliever.
They like Charlie enough to let him do it but this isn’t going anywhere.
phenomenalajs
If he could develop a knuckler, he could have a renaissance like RA Dickey did.
ervin_magic_johnson
For the love of the game!
This one belongs to the Reds
Hope he isn’t the walk-the-bases-loaded, strike-out-the-side pitcher I was when I tried it.
baseballteam
Why not. And learn the knuckler while at it.
Cohn Joppolella
Dude has no chill.
drdback
Wish Charlie the best in his endeavors and love for the game of baseball.
LonnieB
Get it Charlie!!!
LonnieB
Charlie M and Charlie C out the pen! Give me Tyler Matzek 2.0.
Non Roster Invitee
Jason Lane tried this.
Grasscutter
Whatever happens Culberson will debut against the Nationals and get a save in a Mets series.
dopt
He still been a good player. At least he gets to keep playing before he has to work like a normal
Person.
LordD99
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.