Atlanta Braves DFA’d catcher Chris Stewart, meaning Kurt Suzuki is good to go?

Braves DFA’d Stewart, Suzuki ready to return?

Prior to the afternoon game with the Washington Nationals, the Atlanta Braves announced that they have decided to designate for assignment veteran catcher Chris Stewart.  The news caught me, as well as a lot of others, off guard.

The catcher position has been a hot topic so far in the early parts of the 2018 seasons.  On Opening Day, Tyler Flowers left the game with an oblique strain.  The following night, backup catcher Kurt Suzuki was hit with a fastball right off the hand.

Good thing the Braves decided to keep three catchers on the Opening Day roster, eh?

Chris Stewart came into the game after Suzuki left the March 30th game.  Since then, Stewart was our guy behind the plate.  The 36-year-old was slashing .214/.250/.214 after going 3-14 at the plate with three RBIs, three runs scored, one walk and one strikeout.

That obviously wasn’t good enough for the Braves to keep him around.

On Saturday night, the Braves traded for another veteran catcher Carlos Perez.  We sent Ryan Schimpf to the Angles in exchange for the 27-year-old catcher.  On Monday, the Braves added Perez to the 25-man roster and on Wednesday, he got the nod to start behind the plate.

Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos did help sign Perez back in 2008 when he was still a part of the Blue Jays so maybe he likes Perez over Stewart.  Though, Stewart was thinking about retiring and going into the coaching business so maybe he just decided to step away from the game.

“He did okay,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Perez after the game on Wednesday.  “I didn’t realize he caught Folty in Double-A.  As he learns the guys, I like what I saw out of him.  The kids got some skills I can see.  I thought he did a good job.”

Perez and Folty both played Double-A in 2013 with the Corpus Christi Hooks.  This was when they both were in the Houston Astros organization.

Folty said after the game on Wednesday that he had some of his best games with Perez catching. Looks like we may have found another match made in heaven…or at least another Greg Maddux/Eddie Perez combo

Another side note from that team…Braves outfielder Preston Tucker was also on the team.

The Wednesday afternoon move

What was kind of weird about this, was the Braves made this announcement 30 minutes prior to the game on Wednesday.

My take would be that Kurt Suzuki is ready to return to the field.  He could probably had played today if an emergency or injury occurred to Perez.

What we learned following the game is that Brian Snitker is planning on putting Suzuki back in the lineup on Friday.  The Braves are off and traveling out west on Thursday.

“We didn’t have to use him today, give him another two days for treatment,” Snit said following the game.  “All plans are for him to hit the ground running on Friday and have nothing holding him back.”

The Braves will role with Suzuki at catcher and Perez backing him up for the time-being.  There is a chance Flowers will return possibly by early May.

Next: Atlanta Braves add catching depth

Braves will be playing nine straight away games starting with the Colorado Rockies Friday – Sunday, then take on the Washington Nationals in Washington Monday – Wednesday and then head to Chicago to take on the Cubs next Friday – Sunday.