Atlanta increases its depth in the bullpen and at catcher.
According to the team’s transaction page, the Atlanta Braves have brought back right-handed reliever Jackson Stephens and signed veteran catcher Sandy León to a Minor League deal.
León, a twelve-year MLB veteran, gives the franchise more depth at catcher because Chadwick Tromp has joined the major league team and Sean Murphy is presently out with an oblique strain.
León played in 21 games with the Texas Rangers, the World Series Champions, last season, yet in 44 plate appearances, he only hit a pitiful.146/.186/.195. He has played in 554 games in his career, but his offensive production has been somewhat low (1,729 plate appearances, 31 home runs, and 57 OPS+).
The 35-year-old Venezuelan native made his MLB debut in 2012 and has played in every season since. He is a career backup catcher. He rounds out the Stripers’ active roster at Triple-A Gwinnett, where he plays alongside Sebastian Rivero. Ryan Casteel, a catcher, was also named by the team to the developing list.
Stephens is making his way back to the Braves, where he has been a pitcher since the 2022 campaign. One of the final cuts in this season’s Spring Training was the 29-year-old. After returning from injury, he appeared in five games for the Braves in 2023, pitching 12 innings of relief with a 152 ERA+ in a very small sample size. In 2022, he appeared in 39 games for Atlanta, pitching 53.2 innings of productive relief work with a 1.342 WHIP and a 112 ERA+.
Atlanta has a well-known veteran in Stephens who can provide the Braves with a low-to-mid leverage arm that can pitch numerous innings if necessary. Stephens becomes a member of the Gwinnett bullpen, which also includes former closer Ken Giles and several other former MLB relievers.
