Braves claim catcher Maverick Handley, option him to Gwinnett
Atlanta bought a 40-man roster spot by shifting Hurston Waldrep to the 60-day IL, then sent Maverick Handley straight to Gwinnett as catching injuries kept piling up.
With Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin both dealing with injuries, Atlanta moved fast for a catcher it could drop into the upper levels without waiting for another roster crunch. The Braves claimed Maverick Handley off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett, using Hurston Waldrep’s move to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
Handley gives Atlanta a ready-made catching body who is already familiar with the grind of shuttling between levels. The 28-year-old Denver native bats and throws right-handed, was taken by Baltimore in the sixth round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Stanford, and made his major league debut on April 29, 2025. Before the claim, he had appeared in 17 big league games and had only one plate appearance in 2026, spending most of the season at Triple-A Norfolk before Baltimore optioned him to the Tides and designated him for assignment.
That sequence matters for Atlanta, which is trying to keep the catching picture from becoming a nightly emergency. Handley’s immediate assignment to Gwinnett means he does not arrive as a major league solution, but he is now in position if the Braves need someone who can be summoned quickly and already has 40-man status. For a club trying to stay ahead of the injury cycle behind the plate, that is the real value of the move.
Waldrep’s transfer to the 60-day injured list did not alter his rehab path, but it did give the Braves the roster flexibility to make the claim. MLB.com reported that Waldrep underwent arthroscopic surgery on Feb. 23, 2026, to remove loose bodies from his right elbow, began throwing bullpens in early May and was not expected back until late June or early July. Moving him from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL let Atlanta create room now without changing the projected summer return.
Baltimore’s loss came only days after Handley had been sent to Triple-A Norfolk and then designated for assignment, part of a catching shuffle that pushed him out of the Orioles’ system. Atlanta, meanwhile, kept him close at Gwinnett, where the Stripers can give the Braves an immediate insurance policy if the catching depth chart is tested again.
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