Braves do Charlie Culberson, father dirty with Father’s Day DFA

The Atlanta Braves DFA’d Charlie Culberson on Father’s Day when his dad was set to throw out the first pitch at Truist Park. 

When Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy exited Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury, everyone knew that roster moves were coming. On Sunday, they did as Chadwick Tromp was called up from Triple-A, Murphy avoided the IL for now, and veteran utilityman Charlie Culberson was designated for assignment.

On one hand, that was a sensible move. While Culberson is a fan-favorite and dead ringer for Dansby Swanson, he had not seen a second of action since being called up to the 26-man roster in mid-May.

But the Braves couldn’t have picked a worse time to DFA Culberson than Father’s Day.

That’s because Charlie Culberson’s father was set to throw out the first pitch on Sunday at Truist Park, a plan that has obviously been scrapped now with the infielder no longer on the roster.

Braves DFA Charlie Culberson with dad set to throw out Father’s Day first pitch

That’s an extremely tough scene for the Culberson family and, frankly, is a bit of a tough look for the Braves.

To be sure, the front office and organization are in the business of winning baseball games and, in order to put themselves in the best position to do so, this was the move that they felt they had to make. But to have a sweet moment set up for Father’s Day be ruined by the player whose dad was throwing out the first pitch being DFA’d is a tough pill to swallow.

As mentioned, the Braves will move to Plan B now with the first pitch as Michael Harris Sr., the father of the NL Rookie of the Year from last season, will now take the bump for the honor. Let’s just hope that Papa Culberson isn’t too torn up over the way this plays out.