The game on Thursday was abandoned by the 2023 All-Star due to an awkward swing in the late innings.
Opening Day proved to be more painful than the Atlanta Braves had anticipated. The Braves’ starting catcher, Sean Murphy, took an uncomfortable swing in the seventh inning of their game against the Phillies on Friday, just before the Braves rallied for two runs to tie the game. Murphy instantly dropped his bat in pain.
Holding his side, he hobbled toward the dugout. After a quick chat with the Braves trainer, he left the game and entered the clubhouse. Travis d’Arnaud took his seat with a 1-2 count.
The Braves announced that the catcher left the Opening Day game due to left oblique discomfort around twenty minutes after leaving the game.
What will the Braves do if Sean Murphy’s injury requires an IL stint?
Murphy’s injury might be a major blow to the team even though the Braves have more depth at the catching position than the typical team if he must miss a significant amount of time.
The Braves play 19 games in the first 20 days of the season, but Travis d’Arnaud, an All-Star in 2022, would see the most of the field if Murphy is forced to go on the injured list. This implies that there would still be a lot of playing time for the backup catcher.
There isn’t another catcher for the team on the 40-man roster right now, but Triple-A Gwinnett’s Chadwick Tromp, who appeared in six games with Atlanta the previous season, is in the organization and may be brought up. During the first half of the previous season, Sean Murphy was fantastic for the Braves, slashing.306/.400/.599 with a 166 wRC+. Despite a notable decline in performance over the second half of the 2023 campaign, he concluded with a 4.2 fWAR and a 129 wRC+. Among catchers, he had the fifth-highest fWAR.
Murphy is predicted to replicate his performance from the previous season, ideally more evenly.
