After being active on the Atlanta Braves roster for 27 days but not appearing in a single game, Charlie Culberson was designated for assignment Sunday morning. It wasn't necessarily a surprising move, but it did mess up a special Father's Day moment.
Culberson's dad was scheduled to throw him the first pitch at Truist Park before Sunday's game against the Colorado Rockies. The dad, Charles Culberson, has a baseball background as he was selected by the Giants in the 16th round of the 1984 MLB Draft and then spent five seasons in the minors.
However, their special father-son moment was not able to happen after Charlie was designated for assignment. Outfielder Michael Harris II's dad was given the pregame honors instead. Harris made his MLB debut on May 28, 2022, and was impressive enough to be named last season's NL Rookie of the Year.
The Braves sending Culberson down was somewhat expected, but the timing was unfortunate. Braves starting catcher Sean Murphy suffered a hamstring injury on Saturday, which meant the team needed to make some space to call up Chadwick Tromp from Triple-A and have three catchers available.
Culberson had been part of the Braves organization from 2018-2020, and he was part of the 40-man roster for the team's Wild Card matchup against the Cincinnati Reds in 2020. He returned to the organization earlier this year and played 24 games for Triple-A Gwinnett, joining the the Braves after Ehire Adrianza was put on the 60-day injured list.
