Calandra spent the first two seasons of his career (2019, 2021) in the Atlanta Braves organization, reaching as high as Double-A Mississippi. He combined to play in 38 games, posting a .260 batting average with eight RBIs, 19 runs, 34 hits, five doubles, one triple and four walks.  The 25-year-old combined to play 10 games at three different levels in 2021. He totaled one RBI, four runs and five hits in 24 at bats.

The Floral Park, N.Y., native began his career in 2019 with rookie-level Danville, hitting .271 with seven RBIs and 15 runs over 28 games. Prior to his professional career, the backstop had a distinguished career at Floral Park High School on Long Island. He was selected All-County three times, voted the conference player of the year twice, named to Newsday‘s All-Long Island team twice, and designated as first-team Class A for New York State. He was also the winner of the Ryan Caufield Award, given to Nassau County’s best catcher, and the Don Lang Diamond Award, given to the best overall baseball player in Nassau. Calandra was originally selected by the Braves in the 30th round of the 2019 amateur draft.