Atlanta Braves’ Charlie Culberson Strikes Out as Converted Pitcher

Charlie Culberson’s attempt to revive his career as a pitcher struck out when he was released by the Atlanta Braves this week.

The 34-year-old went to spring training on a minor-league deal as a right-handed pitcher instead of a utility player like in years past. He was not invited to big-league camp and spent the entire spring on the minor-league side. The utility-turned-reliever made three Grapefruit Leagues appearances, allowing six runs. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he isn’t hurrying to find another deal. Instead, he will wait to see if another opportunity presents itself and stay ready at home with his family.

Once a draft pick by San Francisco in 2007, the George native has played in parts of 11 major league seasons with the Giants, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Braves, and Texas Rangers. He owns a career slash line of .248/.294/.386 over 1,312 plate appearances with 30 home runs and 145 runs batted in.

Culberson trying to make it as a pitcher isn’t a huge surprise. He has appeared in mop-up situations in eight games on the mound, totaling 7 1/3 innings with an ERA of 1.23 without a decision. He only recorded one strikeout but his fastball was clocked at 93.7 mph.

After appearing in only one game for the Braves last season, Culberson announced in January that he was converting to a pitcher but, according to a story by David O’Brien of The Athletic from Feb. 22, Culberson pitched in high school and knew the odds were stacked against him to make the big league bullpen after not consistently pitching in 17 years.

The decision came in August when he was in Triple-A. He spoke with Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos and told him he wanted to give pitching a shot because his playing time as a utility was limited. He specifically wanted to do it with the Braves because he was home.

Per O’Brien, the GM agreed to the project and put Culberson on the development list, where he spent a little over six weeks in August and September working on his mechanics and arm conditioning. He made three end-of-season relief appearances for Gwinnett, and the Braves saw enough in those outings to sign Culberson to another minor-league deal in January, this time as a pitcher.

“I always told myself that if at any point it came to (that) and I had a chance to pitch, I was going to do it,” Culberson said. “I knew once I made the switch, it was going to be hard to go back. I’ve always said I’d love to be a two-way guy. And in order to be a two-way, I feel like nowadays in baseball, you have to be a pitcher first. I’m not really sure what the Braves’ thoughts are for me on (being a two-way player), but I did bring my bats and I brought my extra gloves with me just in case, because I feel like just bringing my pitcher’s glove was a little weird.

“But no, I’ve been focusing on pitching only.”

Culberson brought a four-seam fastball and cutter into camp and worked on a slider that turned into a curveball but with Atlanta having one of the best rosters in baseball, the experiment with his hometown team came to a disappointing end on Thursday.