Tag: Casali

The Braves have signed catcher Curt Casali to a minor league contract, Just Baseball Media’s Aram Leighton reports.  Atlanta is Casali’s 11th different organization over his 14 professional seasons.

The last eleven of those seasons have come in the big leagues, with Casali amassing 543 career games with the Rays, Mariners, and two separate stints apiece with the Reds and Giants.  Most recently, Casali suited up 41 times for San Francisco last season, stepping in as the primary backup catcher after Tom Murphy was lost for the season due to a knee injury.

Casali has mostly worked in a backup or part-time capacity, appearing in as many as 84 games twice (2016 with the Rays and 2019 with the Reds) in his career.  His most productive overall stretch came with Cincinnati from 2018-2020, when he hit .260/.345/.440 in 485 plate appearances while working in what was more or less a timeshare with Tucker Barnhart behind the plate.  Casali’s offensive numbers have tailed off significantly since, and he had only a .194/.293/.250 slash line in 125 PA with the Giants last season.

His glovework also took a downturn in 2024, as Statcast rated his blocking, framing, and caught-stealing numbers all below average.  This could be a sign of age catching up to Casali as he enters his age-36 season, but he has a solid reputation as a defensive catcher who works well with pitchers.

Atlanta declined its $8MM club option on Travis d’Arnaud, and the longtime Braves backstop then signed with the Angels in one of the offseason’s more significant early moves.  Sean Murphy will look to rebound from a down year as the Braves’ starting catcher and Chadwick Tromp is penciled in as the backup, though Casali and Sandy Leon are two well-traveled veterans who will provide some competition in Spring Training.  The other name to watch here is Drake Baldwin, as the top prospect hit well in 334 PA with Triple-A Gwinnett last season and is expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2025.