ATLANTA — Chadwick Tromp is from Aruba, a Caribbean island that is a self-governing country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He speaks four languages fluently, has a warm smile and subtle sense of humor, is one of the top two chess players in the Atlanta Braves’ clubhouse (Max Fried is the other) and has a knack for making friends and earning respect from peers wherever he goes.
How else to explain how a player with just 46 games played in parts of five major-league seasons, including 13 games with the Braves over three seasons, could be so popular among teammates and Braves coaches, and draw such praise from other catchers and pitchers young and old, including some he’s only known a few months?
“Tremendous catcher and tremendous game-caller,” Braves pitcher Reynaldo López said of Tromp, who has caught two of his three starts in López’s first season as a Brave and first as a starter since 2021, which so far has surpassed all reasonable expectations for the right-hander with the 0.50 ERA.
“Oh, my God, I’m in love with this kid,” said Eddie Perez, a former Braves defense-first catcher who’s now a coach, working closely with Braves catching coach Sal Fasano and the team’s veteran catching duo of Travis d’Arnaud and Sean Murphy, and with Tromp when he’s with the team at spring training and serves as a fill-in for those two.
That’s what Tromp has done since Murphy, a 2023 All-Star, went on the 10-day injured list with a strained oblique sustained in the second game of the season. Murphy still is probably at least two to three weeks from returning.
Tromp was recalled from Triple A and quickly made his way to Philadelphia after Murphy got hurt. The next day, Tromp caught veteran Chris Sale’s Braves debut, an impressive 5 1/3-inning outing in which Sale worked out of a couple of jams and limited the Phillies to five hits, two runs and two walks with seven strikeouts.
Afterward, Sale offered unsolicited praise for Tromp, whom he met at spring training but only threw to for a couple of innings in one Grapefruit League game. Sale is six years older than the 29-year-old Tromp, 10 inches taller than the 5-foot-8 catcher and has about 12 more years of MLB service time.
Despite those differences and Tromp’s relative lack of experience, there was Tromp in Philadelphia, just up from Triple A, guiding one of the best pitchers of the past decade through Sale’s first game with a new team in a new league. He helped Sale get locked in with his vaunted slider on a day when the pitch didn’t feel right initially.
Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz speaks with Chadwick Tromp and Chris Sale in the fifth inning against the Phillies on March 31. (Rick Kranitz / USA Today)
“I threw the first couple in the bullpen and I was kind of yanking it,” Sale said. “And then I just kind of got my direction a little bit better. That was all on Trompy. He saw it kind of evolving throughout the game and saw the swings and the command I had with it. He led me through that game and I got myself into a pretty good little pickle there, and again he helped me get out of that. So, I’m really confident with him behind the plate, and it’s been a pleasure to be able to throw to him.”
That went so well that Tromp was assigned Sale’s next start, when the lanky left-hander limited the Arizona Diamondbacks to four hits and two runs with no walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Tromp also caught López’s Braves debut, a strong six-inning outing in cold, wet conditions in Chicago against the pitcher’s former team, the White Sox. He held them to four hits, one run and two walks.
When Tromp caught his third start two weeks later at Houston, López limited a tough Astros lineup to four hits in six scoreless innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.
“I really have to praise all the work he puts in,” López said. “Prior to the game he’s in there scouting, analyzing that starter and the at-bats that he’s had against that lineup previously. He comes up with a good game plan. And not just those things, but the way he communicates. His communication with us and just the way that we work together when we’re on the mound. Like I said, I think he’s a tremendous catcher and a great game-caller.”
After those comments by López, Tromp was asked how it made him feel to have both Sale and López go out of their way to credit him for his game calling, preparation and communication.
“To be honest, it feels good,” Tromp said. “It’s a lot of work that we put in before the game with the catchers and the coaches — Sal and Eddie, and Travy and Sean — just going over the pitchers that day. And just go out there and have fun, man. That’s why I’m here, I’m going to try to help the team win every day.
“Right now it’s to give Travy a day (off) and come in and try to help the team win.”
Snitker said he plans to keep catching Tromp once every three games while Murphy is on the IL, to limit wear-and-tear on d’Arnaud, who hit three homers including a grand slam in Friday’s series-opening win against Texas.
D’Arnaud, 35, caught Saturday night’s game, too, but Snitker expects to have Tromp catch Sunday night’s series finale with rookie Darius Vines making his second start of the season in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Vines knows Tromp from spring trainings and last season at Triple A, and is comfortable with him and the other catchers.
“It’s a great veteran presence to have between (Murphy and d’Arnaud), and Trompy’s obviously learning from those two,” Vines said. “His pitch-calling has become very, very good. I mean, (Tuesday) it was a tell — he and Reynaldo, they threw a really good game, and then when the bullpen came in Trompy handled that very well. It’s a big thing. Every team has at least one solid catcher, but to have a two-headed monster is pretty crazy, and then you get to add the third (Tromp).”
The Braves believe they have the best catching group in baseball and the culture they’ve developed under Fasano and communication with pitchers has been a major part of their success. Tromp has fit seamlessly into that mix in his four years in the organization, being in the daily catchers’ meetings at spring training and when he’s been with the team during the season.
Tromp said it’s “like grad school” working with Fasano, Perez and the veteran catchers.
“I give all the credit to the hitting coaches. They do a great job with me and make sure I’m getting my work in to stay ready. My job is to come in, give Travy a day and do the best I can to help the team win.”
Chadwick Tromp after tonight’s series win over the Astros🔊 pic.twitter.com/tbKD3e44hC
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) April 17, 2024
“I tell people all the time, that’s my favorite part of the day, is when we get to spend (time) in those meetings and we just go over stuff and have fun,” Tromp said. “It calms the nerves. And for me, I think we have the best catching group in the league. I love those guys and they get me as ready as I can be for the game, and I think that translated.”
The high-level catching and communication from the group is immediately apparent for pitchers new to the Braves.
“They’re ultra-prepared,” said reliever Aaron Bummer, in his first year with Atlanta after being traded from the White Sox. “And at this point in the game, being as prepared as you can and trusting your stuff, and trusting the catchers’ fingers that are going down are the right ones — you just go out there and execute your plan, and nine times out of ten if you execute your plan you’re going to be successful.”
Asked about Tromp, Bummer said, “I’ve been a fan. We’ve had constant communication every time I’ve thrown, we’ve talked about the plan that I’ve had. And I think he’s done a great job handling the staff. He’s doing a great job coming in and putting in the work and putting in the effort with all the catchers, and getting to know every pitcher — the way that they like to work and the way that their stuff plays. I think he’s done a really good job.”
Braves manager Brian Snitker is a former minor league catcher who didn’t make it past Double A as a player. He admires players who have to work hard to advance in their careers, players who weren’t top prospects or high draft picks — Tromp signed as an international free agent with the Cincinnati Reds at 18 — and who bounce between Triple A and the majors without complaint.
Tromp has done that since the Braves claimed him off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in Sept. 2021 and was designated for assignment the following April and outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. After playing in only one game with Atlanta in 2022 — he went 3-for-4 with two doubles — and six games last season, mostly while d’Arnaud was sidelined by a concussion, Tromp has already started six games this season.
He has three doubles and five RBIs in 18 plate appearances, including a key two-run double in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s win at Houston. But his defense, game calling and communication get consistent praise.
“We’re really fortunate, number one, to have two guys like Travis and Murph,” Snitker said. “And then to have somebody that can fill in like Tromp can, it’s really good. Because he’s really good. I don’t think he gets enough credit. He’s got a great feel, and pitch-calling, blocking, receiving. The guys love throwing to him, and we’re real fortunate to have a guy like that.
“He’s another one that’s kind of a pitcher-first guy, and he goes up there (to hit) and he’s aggressive. That bat’s not on safety when he’s in that batter’s box, that’s for sure. And he can do some damage that way, too.”
“Me and Brian were just talking about (Tromp),” Perez said after Tuesday’s game at Houston. “I was telling him that (shortstop Orlando) Arcia was saying, ‘I’m impressed by the way he catches the ball, he frames every pitch the right way.’ And I said to Arcia, ‘He’s really good. He’s a hard worker. He’s intelligent, man. He wants to learn. I love that kid.’”
(Top photo of Chadwick Tromp: Troy Taormina / USA Today)
