Braves call-up gets unintentionally presidential with jersey switch

Atlanta Braves star catcher Sean Murphy was placed on the injured list this weekend, thus forcing Travis d'Arnaud into action as the team's primary starter behind home plate. d'Arnaud is more than capable, and even made an All-Star team in 2022 and won a Silver Slugger in 2020.

d'Arnaud and Murphy make up the best backstop in baseball, and it's tough to argue otherwise. However, now that Murphy is out for the foreseeable future, the Braves had to call up a new catcher. d'Arnaud is sure to receive some days off, and in Murphy's absence, Chadwick Tromp will be the backup backstop.

David O'Brien of The Athletic reports that Tromp could be Chris Sale's personal catcher. Tromp's season debut with Sale went well on Sunday despite an Atlanta defeat to the Phillies. Sale threw a quality start, going more than five innings and giving up just two earned runs. Sale had plenty to say about Tromp postgame, mentioning how the young catcher got him through a tough fifth-inning stretch.

“The fifth inning just kind of got away from me, and I was kind of all over the place,” Sale said, per The Athletic. “Kranny (pitching coach Rick Kranitz) comes out, calms things down, and Trompy was staying on point and didn’t flinch. Really got me through that inning with minimal damage. So that was fun to see.”

Chadwick Tromp makes waves off the field for Braves, too

As much as Sale likes Tromp on the field, it's his jersey which could soon fly off shelves off the diamond. Tromp's number is 45, and in some parts of Braves country, that could be used to represent a controversial political figure. Donald Trump was, of course, the 45th president of the United States after all.

While merely a small backstory to Tromp's baseball aspirations, many Braves fans have already noticed the correlation. Tromp is a career .218 hitter, having spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues with the Giants and Braves.

Depending on the length of Murphy's absence, Tromp could be in for a long-term MLB gig this spring.