ATLANTA -- How great are things going for the Braves? Well, the guy who entered the season as the fifth catcher, Chadwick Tromp, on their depth chart proved to be the hero in the eventful 5-4 win over the Nationals on Friday night at Truist Park.
“That was a good win,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “We emptied the tank too. It's good when you win those games, when you use all your guys. Those could be expensive losses if you don't pull it out.”
Weiss used five of eight available relievers and each of his 13 position players, including Tromp, who entered the game in the seventh after starting catcher Sandy León was replaced by a pinch-hitter. This was certainly a good example of better late than never.
Tromp began a game-tying two-run 10th inning with a leadoff RBI single, and he delivered the game-ending two-out single that scored the speedy Eli White from second base. Not bad for a guy who entered the week expecting to serve as Triple-A Gwinnett’s catcher against Charlotte. The 31-year-old veteran was promoted to Atlanta after All-Star candidate Drake Baldwin strained his right oblique muscle on Monday.
“It’s been awesome,” Tromp said. “I’ve been here a long time. These guys know me. I felt like I was in a good spot coming back here. We’re just trying to get wins. I know the boys are rolling.”
The Braves have overcome a few health-related obstacles while constructing MLB’s best record at 36-16. Spencer Schwellenbach hasn’t thrown a pitch all season and Spencer Strider has made just four starts since missing the first month with a left oblique strain. Ronald Acuña Jr. missed nearly three weeks with a left hamstring strain and Baldwin will likely now miss a month.
When Baldwin suffered his injury this week, there was reason for concern. Veteran catcher Sean Murphy fractured his left middle finger two weeks ago and likely won’t return until after the All-Star break. Murphy’s injury forced the Braves to call León, who had left the organization to play in Mexico earlier this year.
There was a need to call León because Jonah Heim, who began the season as Atlanta’s backup catcher, was traded to the A’s for cash when Murphy returned from hip surgery in early May. Tromp, who played portions of each of the past four seasons with Atlanta, didn’t get the call until three other previous options were unavailable.
“We have a good bunch of guys that like to compete,” Weiss said. “They believe they're going to win. You look around the room in there, and it's like everybody in that room has helped us win games. That's usually what it takes.”
This was certainly a team effort aided once again by Bryce Elder, who allowed one run over six innings to lower his ERA to 1.97. The deficit created by Curtis Mead’s solo homer in the sixth was erased by a two-run seventh capped by Ha-Seong Kim’s successful safety squeeze that scored Austin Riley.
How good are things going for the Braves? Well they claimed this fourth straight victory despite the fact that two of their top three relievers both proved to be fallible. CJ Abrams hit a solo homer off Robert Suarez in the eighth and added a two-run triple off Dylan Lee in the 10th.
Suarez entered the day having allowed just one run over 21 1/3 innings. Lee had allowed two earned runs over 23 1/3 innings.
Like nobody expected both to surrender a run in one game, Tromp wasn’t the expected hero. The longtime backup catcher entered Friday with five big league hits since the start of the 2025 season. Three of those were tallied for the Orioles last year.
But none of this mattered when Tromp began the 10th by bouncing a single through the middle of the infield. He scored two batters later when Mauricio Dubón continued to be clutch with a game-tying single.
Tromp’s game-ending single was a 105 mph liner that landed in center field. The throw to the plate wasn’t strong enough to beat the fleet-footed White, who entered as a defensive replacement in the top of the 10th.
“I think in the past, we kind of just expected to come back,” Elder said. “I think this year, we're much more intentional with what we're doing, and there's a little bit of urgency there.”