Atlanta Braves: Heroics of the real MVP, Charlie Culberson
There may not be a player more critical to the success of the Atlanta Braves than their do-it-all utility player, Charlie Culberson.
In a trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves two offseasons ago that seemed mostly driven by swapping bad contracts, the Braves got a steal by acquiring Charlie Culberson.
The Atlanta Braves sent Matt Kemp to the Dodgers in that trade and he had a great first half in LA and even made the All-Star team, but has been pretty much irrelevant since then.
Brandon McCarthy, Scott Kazmir, Adrian Gonzalez, and Culberson were all shipped to the Atlanta Braves in that deal.
Kazmir didn’t make it out of Spring Training with the Braves and hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2016. Gonzalez was granted his immediate release after the trade and eventually signed with the New York Mets where he played in 54 games last year, but nothing since.
McCarthy had a good little run in the Braves rotation before hanging it up.
The only player in that deal still on a Major League roster is Clutch Culberson … the afterthought of that money-driven trade.
But Atlanta Braves fans know how valuable Culberson is to this team, and he’s proven it over-and-over.
Braves players know how special he is as well. Last year Freddie Freeman went as far as to call him the MVP of the team.
#Braves' Freddie Freeman on Charlie Culberson: "He’s the MVP of our team. When Ronald went down, he went to left field and kept it going. Ozzie’s gone down the last couple of days and he’s just picked it right up. It’s been huge."
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienATL) July 24, 2018
And it’s not just the on-field heroics, which we’ll get to in a minute, it’s his selflessness that impresses me the most.
I couldn’t find a clip, but Paul Byrd expressed to Charlie in an interview after the game on Sunday exactly what I think we all feel about him.
“You’re a starter on many teams,” Byrd said during the interview looking directly at Charlie. “We talked about MVPs of the first half … and there’s Freddie, and Acuna, and Soroka, and others. You are right up there with them because of your attitude. I see you walk in that locker room every day — you’re smiling, you have a great heart, you work hard, you treat people the right way. Your attitude is one of the reasons for this Braves’ team’s success.”
That interview had me tearing up. When my kid grows up I hope he plays the game of baseball exactly like Charlie Culberson.
Offensive Heroics
What people probably admire most, or remember most, about Charlie Culberson are the walk-off home runs.
In a span of a week last year Clutcherson hit two walk-off home runs for the Atlanta Braves.
Both came against division rivals, and both were spectacular.
On May 28 against the New York Mets, Charlie helped keep the Atlanta Braves from getting swept in a doubleheader that day with a two-run walk-off homer off Seth Lugo. That also spoiled a great start from eventual Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom.
Six days later he would come to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game against
and the Washington Nationals and hit another two-run homer for a walk-off.
Say what you will about the bat flip culture that we play in today, I’ll take Charlie Culberson’s reaction all day long. His pure excitement rounding first base, looking at his teammates, on both of these walk-offs gives me the chills.
And on June 16 last year he hit a home run against the San Diego Padres that wasn’t a walk-off, but it was the only run scored in that game as the Braves went on to win 1-0.
While he hasn’t had that walk-off moment this year, he’s still been just as clutch for the Atlanta Braves.
This season he’s hitting .314 (11-for-35) with 2 home runs and 10 RBI in the eighth inning or later.
When you look at the ninth inning or later he’s hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a home run, 6 RBI, and 3 walks.
He certainly has that clutch gene about him, and I feel very confident when Charlie steps to the plate in the late innings.
That’s the main reason why Brian Snitker doesn’t give him more starts, he wants to deploy him at the right time at the end of games. That’s what makes him so valuable for the Braves.
Defensive Heroics
In 2019 Charlie has certainly got it done with the bat as we’ve already talked about, but his biggest heroics have come in the field with his glove.
Since Austin Riley has come up and started playing in left field, Culberson has been deployed late in games as a defensive replacement.
That’s led to him making two game-saving plays for the Atlanta Braves this year.
The first one wasn’t exactly a game-saving play, but it felt like it at the time.
Atlanta had scrapped their way to a 3-2 lead over the Chicago Cubs on just 3 hits. Culberson came on in the ninth as that defensive replacement for Riley and made an incredible catch to keep Javier Baez off the base paths to start the bottom of the ninth.
https://twitter.com/FOXSportsBraves/status/1143717682170085377
Who knows how differently that game might have gone if Baez reaches. That catch seemed to settle things down and Luke Jackson went on to strike out the next two batters to preserve the one-run win.
And, of course, everyone knows the other play that Charlie made that was definitely a game-saving play.
With the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the ninth, Charlie made one of the best plays — considering the circumstances — that I’ve ever seen.
CHARLIE CULBERSON IS THE MOST CLUTCH PLAYER IN BASEBALL WE DON'T MAKE THE RULES#ChopOn pic.twitter.com/FclBzYUsX1
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 7, 2019
The fact that Charlie was on a full sprint, threw that ball falling away, and was able to throw a strike to home plate is beyond amazing.
Had he not made that play and the Braves ended the first half on a series loss to the Marlins, which would have allowed the Nats and Phillies to inch closer in the division, it would have left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth for a while.
Next. Examining 1st half stats. dark
But Clutherson came through again and showed us why is one of the most valuable players on this Atlanta Braves team.