The Atlanta Braves added a fourth player on a minor league contract this month.
The deal was announced on the Braves’ official roster transaction page at MLB.com.
He has spent the last two seasons in various minor league levels with the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. He played 16 games for Triple-A Tacoma this season.
Kato has never appeared in a Major League Baseball game.
The Astros selected Kato in the 13th round of the 2021 MLB amateur draft. He concluded his undergraduate career with a.344 batting average and 22 extra-base hits in 93 games.
Kato made his first minor league appearance for the Astros in 2021, at Single-A. at 2023, he hit.252 with a.727 OPS at both Single-A and High-A.
Kato hit.356/.435/.492 in 69 plate appearances at Triple-A this season. However, he spent most of 2024 playing for the York Revolution in the Independent League.
In 64 games with York, he batted.255 with 23 extra-base hits.
Kato started the 2024 season with Double-A Corpus Christi, an Astros club. Corpus Christi dismissed Kato roughly a week into the season.
On July 12, Kato joined the Mariners organization. After being released by the Astros, he spent around three months in the Independent League before joining the Mariners.
Kato became a free agent again on November 4. The Braves assigned Kato to Double-A Mississippi the day after he signed.
Kato does not appear to have much power. He has a career minor league slugging percentage of.359. However, it will be intriguing to see if he is given the opportunity to demonstrate his abilities throughout Spring Training.
In addition to Kato, the Braves added right-hander Enoli Paredes, third baseman Charles Leblanc, and catcher Yohel Pozo to minor league contracts in November.
