The Atlanta Braves are making more moves as they get closer to Opening Day. On Sunday night, The Athletic’s David O’Brien reported that the team reassigned infielder Garrett Cooper and outfielder Conner Capel to minor league camp.
With these roster cuts, the Braves now have 37 players remaining in big-league camp as they fine-tune the squad for the regular season.
Cooper’s Rollercoaster Career
Garrett Cooper has been around the block in Major League Baseball, spending most of his career with the Miami Marlins. He was even an All-Star in 2022, hitting .251 with nine home runs, 50 RBIs, and 37 runs scored. These were not exactly eye-popping numbers, but they are solid enough to earn him recognition.
Cooper played in Miami from 2018 until the 2023 trade deadline, putting up a respectable .269 batting average and a .774 OPS over six seasons. But since leaving the Marlins, things have been rocky. He bounced between the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, and Boston Red Sox last season, struggling mightily at the plate.
He hit just .206 with a .556 OPS overall. Unfortunately, his time with the Red Sox was rough. He hit .171 with an OPS under .230 in 24 games with Boston. The Braves took a chance this offseason on him, but he was not able to make the roster.
Capel’s Limited MLB Experience
Conner Capel doesn’t have the same track record as Cooper but has shown flashes of potential. He debuted in 2022 with the St. Louis Cardinals and later spent time with the Oakland Athletics that same season.
Last year, Capel played just five games for the Cincinnati Reds, making his MLB opportunities pretty limited. Across 59 career games, he’s posted a respectable .278 batting average with a .758 OPS—decent numbers for a player still trying to carve out a role in the big leagues. In his brief stint with the Reds, he went 2-for-8 with a stolen base and a run scored.
Braves Closing in on Opening Day
The Atlanta Braves are entering the final stretch of Spring Training. This is the last full week of exhibition games as their final spring matchup is scheduled against the Cubs on March 25. From there, it’s off to the West Coast to open the season in San Diego on March 27.
Atlanta still has to trim the roster down to 26 players before Opening Day, so expect a few more moves in the coming days. With Cooper and Capel now in minor league camp, the Braves are one step closer to finalizing their squad for what they hope will be another deep postseason run.
