Charlie Culberson, a former utility player for the Atlanta Braves who is now a bullpen pitcher, announced his retirement from baseball on his Instagram page on Thursday. Renowned for his Dansby Swanson appearance, Culberson serves as a pillar of support in the Atlanta clubhouse. Although Culberson’s career stat line does not indicate that he had much of an impact on the field, RBIs, hits, home runs, or batting average do not adequately capture his importance to the Braves as a whole.
However, Culberson’s lackluster plate appearance eventually made it untenable for the Braves to keep him on the active roster. The 35-year-old was driven by this to examine himself closely in the mirror and change his strategy completely. In spring training, Culberson switched positions and pitched for the Braves before joining Gwinnett in his later career.
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Charlie Culberson, a former Braves player, leaves baseball with no regrets.
As admirable as Culberson’s endeavor to remain relevant in the major leagues, time eventually caught up with him, and Atlanta was forced to release him. Culberson realized at this point that his career was coming to an end.
Culberson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Once I switched that to (pitching) and then the Braves were like, ‘Hey it’s not gonna work out,’ I told myself, ‘I’m done working out and trying to continue to play.'” And I didn’t mind at all. It took me some time to get over the notion that, I suppose, people no longer thought highly of me as a player. However, after some time, that kind of goes away and I come to the realization that I am where I should be. I felt satisfied with my career when I looked back on it since I had given it my all.
The Braves never promised anything to Culberson, to be fair. Brian Snitker stated in March that Culberson will not receive preferential treatment.
Snitker stated, “We’ll see where it takes him,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “He enjoys playing baseball at all positions. We hope the best for him. Charlie has contributed much and achieved achievement in this. He’s simply a great man. I’m glad he has the chance to do that if that’s what he wants to do.
Sadly, Culberson didn’t get very far with it. The 11-year MLB veteran has only made one appearance in 2023 and hasn’t played in the majors this season. He hasn’t seen regular playing time in a while, and despite his impressive late-career transformation, there was never much chance he would make the MLB squad as a pitcher.
Culberson has now officially announced that failed endeavor.
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