Braves Recall Rolddy Muñoz For MLB Debut
Before this afternoon’s game against the Cubs, the Braves called up relief pitcher Rolddy Muñoz. Atlanta also activated utility player Luke Williams from the 10-day injured list. Those accounted for Atlanta’s two expanded roster spots. Muñoz was added to the 40-man roster last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. This is his first big league call.
The 25-year-old righty now has a good shot to make his MLB debut in the next few days. Muñoz, the twin brother of former Brave farmhand and current Cardinals reliever Roddery Muñoz, was an amateur signee out of the Dominican Republic. Baseball America ranks him the #18 prospect in an admittedly thin Atlanta farm system. He’s a two-pitch reliever with an upper 90s sinker and a slider that BA rates as a 70-grade (plus-plus) offering. It’s the kind of raw stuff that could play at the back of a bullpen, but Muñoz’s below-average control probably pushes him more towards middle relief.
Muñoz has divided the season between Double-A Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett. He has combined for 55 2/3 innings with a 2.75 earned run average. Muñoz has walked an alarming 13% of batters faced with a slightly below-average 21.4% strikeout rate. The shape on his fastball causes it to play more as a ground-ball pitch than a huge swing-and-miss offering despite its velocity. Muñoz has gotten grounders at a near-52% clip this season. The Braves will see how his stuff plays against big league opposition as the season winds down, probably with an eye towards letting him battle for an Opening Day bullpen spot next spring.
Braves Select Rolddy Munoz
The Braves announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Rolddy Munoz to the 40-man roster. In doing so, they’ll protect Munoz from next month’s Rule 5 Draft. The deadline to protect players from Rule 5 eligibility is tomorrow evening. Atlanta’s 40-man roster is now up to 39 players.
Munoz, 25 in April, split the 2024 season between High-A and Double-A. His twin brother, Roddery Munoz, was once in Atlanta’s minor league system as well and made his big league debut with the Marlins in 2024. Roddery bounced from the Braves to the Nats to the Pirates to the Marlins via waivers before that debut. He’s since been claimed by the Cardinals and is currently on the 40-man roster in St. Louis.
Rolddy Munoz, meanwhile, has yet to make his big league debut but is now one step closer to doing so after joining the 40-man roster. He logged a combined 4.24 ERA in 51 innings between High-A and Double-A last year, spending more time and enjoying more success at the more advanced of those two levels. Rolddy Munoz fanned a hefty 34.6% of his opponents overall, though his combined 10.1% walk rate was about 1.5 percentage points higher than average.
FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked Rolddy Munoz 18th among Atlanta prospects last summer, noting that he has one of the best sliders in all of minor league baseball: a bat-missing 85-89 mph breaker with incredible movement. He sits upper-90s with his heater and can touch triple digits but has below-average command of the pitch, which has “ineffective movement,” per Longenhagen. Munoz figures to head to Triple-A Gwinnett early in the 2025 season and could have a chance at breaking into the majors next year.