Sandy León, other MLB vets making their mark on younger teammates at Gwinnett

LAWRENCEVILLE — If you look at the active roster of the Gwinnett Stripers, the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate, a few names will likely ring a bell.

Carlos Santana, Carlos Carrasco, Sandy León, José Azócar and Rowdy Tellez are just a few of the major-league veterans who have called the outskirts of metro Atlanta home this season. Their years of service and knowledge of the game have aided their younger counterparts in navigating the minor leagues.

León spent much of last season in Gwinnett as organizational depth. He left the Stripers to get an everyday opportunity in Mexico.

He wasn’t away from the organization for long, however. He signed an MLB deal with the Braves in May after Drake Baldwin was sidelined by an oblique injury and spent about a month in the majors before being designated for assignment in mid-June.

Ever since re-signing to a minor-league contract, León has been in Gwinnett, providing wisdom to Stripers teammates vying to make their mark in the Braves organization.

“He’s one of those guys that doesn’t say a ton,” catcher Adam Zebrowski said. “But the more I talk to him, the more I want to ask him questions. I know how much knowledge he has, so (I’m) just picking his brain at any chance I can. Like, even games I’m playing, I’ll see if he saw anything in their last two innings, to just get his two cents on what he saw.”

León’s presence has not only reached his fellow backstops. It has been useful for young infielders such as Cal Conley, who has gone back and forth between Gwinnett and Double-A Columbus the past two seasons.

“Just from me being around him since spring training and stuff, and a little bit last year, he’s just an unbelievable leader by example,” Conley said. “He’s just a professional in everything that he does. A guy like him is easy to follow and see how he goes about it every day.”