While some teams around the league have been holding guys in camp for as long as possible, the Atlanta Braves have been making aggressive spring roster cuts on the regular for over a week now. The Braves are in the fortunate position of having roster certainty at most positions, so it makes sense that they are moving with such purpose.
The one area of the roster that is a bit unsettled at the moment is the pitching staff and that is where we have seen the most cuts. Hurston Waldrep lost his dark horse bid for the Opening Day roster early on and over time, multiple cuts have culled the pool of candidates for the bullpen as well.
On Friday, the bullpen picture for the Braves became even more clear with the word that Atlanta had optioned Domingo Gonzalez and Rolddy Muñoz to Triple-A and sent them back over to minor league camp.
The #Braves today optioned RHP Domingo Gonzalez and RHP Rolddy Muñoz to Triple-A Gwinnett. Atlanta now has 46 players in camp.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 7, 2025
Braves trim spring roster again after sending Domingo Gonzalez and Rolddy Muñoz back to MiLB camp
There are no real surprises here as both Gonzalez and Muñoz had uphill climbs to make the Opening Day roster with the Braves. While both pitchers are on the 40-man roster which helped their cases, most agreed that they were further down the depth chart than at least guys like Daysbel Hernandez, Anderson Pilar, and Angel Perdomo for the final spots in the bullpen.
Gonzalez is a name that we could still end up seeing this coming season after posting a strong season in 2024. In 45 appearances between Double-A and Triple-A last season, Gonzalez posted a 2.91 ERA with a very encouraging 83 strikeouts in 52.2 innings of work. If he keeps missing bats at that rate, he will almost certainly get a shot in the big leagues at some point.
Muñoz is a bit trickier to predict. The Braves thought enough of Muñoz to protect him from the Rule 5 draft this offseason, but his results in the minor leagues have been a lot more uneven and walks have been a recurring problem. It is likely he is going to be a minor league depth arm until Muñoz proves that he is ready for the bright lights which may not be until 2026.
Opening Day is coming up fast and the Braves seem to have a firm place in place for how they are handling their current roster battles. At this rate, we will know very soon as to what the rotation and bullpen will look like once the 2025 season opens up.