Braves Claim Maverick Handley

The Braves on Thursday claimed catcher Maverick Handley off waivers from the Orioles, per a team announcement. Righty Hurston Waldrep moves from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move. Handley was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Handley, 28, was the Orioles’ sixth-round pick in 2019. He’s spent his entire career in the organization. Over the past year, he’s been on and off Baltimore’s 40-man roster and up and down between Baltimore and the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk. Handley has only 48 big league plate appearances and has gone just 3-for-42 in that time. It’s not a good big league track record, clearly, but Handley logged a .258/.373/.367 slash in Triple-A last year. He’s regularly posted lofty walk rates in the minors, and he’s regarded as a quality defender.

Handley isn’t going to jump right onto the big league roster, but he gives an injury-decimated Atlanta catching corps some depth. The Braves recently put star backstop Drake Baldwin on the injured list due to an oblique strain. He’s likely looking at a weekslong absence. Veteran complement Sean Murphy isn’t an option at the moment. After spending the early portion of the season rehabbing from hip surgery, he suffered a broken middle finger and is sidelined for another two months or so.

That’s left the Braves with a light-hitting catching tandem of Sandy León and Chadwick Tromp. Both are decent defenders who can’t be expected to hit in the majors. That’s true of Handley as well, to an extent, though he at least has quality on-base numbers in the minors thanks to his penchant for drawing walks. León and Tromp both regularly post on-base percentages in the .250 range.

Waldrep’s move to the 60-day IL is purely procedural. It does nothing to impact his timetable to return. The talented young righty underwent spring surgery to remove loose bodies from his elbow. Since his IL placement was retroactive to three days prior to Opening Day — the maximum allowed — he’s already effectively spent 60 days on the IL. Moving from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset the required minimum, but it does open a 40-man spot. Waldrep isn’t on a minor league rehab assignment yet anyhow, so he’s not especially close to returning, but this won’t change anything when he’s finally ready to be activated.