Braves catcher Sean Murphy has a cracked rib on the left side of his ribcage and will be out for the next four to six weeks, manager Brian Snitker announced this morning (link via Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). He sustained the injury when he was hit by a pitch during a Grapefruit League game this past Friday.
The injury opens the door for top prospect Drake Baldwin to potentially make his big league debut on Opening Day, though Baldwin is not yet on the 40-man roster and will likely still need to earn the job with a nice showing in camp. Since Atlanta surprisingly declined Travis d’Arnaud’s option at the start of the offseason and let him walk in free agency, the other in-house options include Chadwick Tromp (who’s on the 40-man roster) and veteran non-roster invitees Curt Casali and Sandy Leon.
Murphy, 30, is entering his third season with the Braves and will miss the beginning of the season for a second consecutive year. An oblique strain suffered on Opening Day last year sent Murphy to the injured list on March 30 and sidelined him into late May. That was the first major league IL placement of Murphy’s career, but with the season set to open in just over three weeks, he’ll all but assuredly start the 2025 campaign with his second career IL stay.
The 2024 season was the worst of Murphy’s career. It clearly didn’t start on a high note with that early oblique injury, but upon activation from the injured list he didn’t hit anywhere near his prior standards, slashing just .193/.284/.352 in 264 plate appearances. He still smacked 10 homers and graded as a strong defender, but Murphy’s strikeout rate climbed to its highest point since 2021 (25.4%).
More damaging was a huge spike in both Murphy’s ground-ball rate (career-high 53.9%) and infield fly rate. Among the 324 players who tallied 250 plate appearances in 2024, only 12 hit a higher rate of grounders than Murphy. For a player ranked in the eighth percentile in Statcast’s average sprint speed, that’s clearly suboptimal. Beyond the influx of ground-balls, roughly one in six of Murphy’s fly-balls was a hapless pop-up to the infield. He entered the 2024 season with only 9% of his flies being of the infield variety (and just 3.8% in 2023).
Murphy’s struggles really date back to September of 2023. The first five months of his Braves tenure could scarcely have gone better. He slashed .271/.379/.520 with 20 homers in 383 plate appearances, making the All-Star team and looking every bit like the star catcher Atlanta envisioned when trading for and extending him. Murphy hit just .111/.273/.178 in 55 September plate appearances in ’23, but given his track record that seemed like little more than a late slump.
Perhaps that was indeed the case, but with Murphy’s rough 2024 season now tacked onto that poor finish the year prior, he’s running a pretty lengthy stretch of struggles at the plate. In his past 329 plate appearances — including ten in the playoffs — he’s lugging a .181/.280/.319 batting line.
Of course, any talk of Murphy’s recent struggles should mention that they’re short-lived relative to his longstanding all-around production. From the time of his 2019 debut through August 2023, Murphy hit .237/.333/.434 with premium defense. By measure of wRC+, he was 16% better than an average hitter at the plate, which is even more impressive for his position, as the average catcher in that span tended to be around 12% worse than average with the bat. From 2019-23, Murphy ranked third among all catchers in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement, trailing only J.T. Realmuto and (much more narrowly) Will Smith.
He’ll look to get back on track once he’s past this rib injury, but Murphy’s looming IL stint does give the aforementioned Baldwin an opportunity at his MLB debut. The 23-year-old is widely considered among the sport’s top 100 prospects. Atlanta’s third-round pick in 2022 split the 2024 season between Double-A and Triple-A, hitting a combined .276/.370/.423 with 16 homers, a 13.1% walk rate and a 17.2% strikeout rate. He’s not considered the super-premium defender that Murphy is, but scouting reports have credited him with improving defense. Baseball America credits his ability to manage a pitching staff as a particular plus element of his defensive game.
The Braves aren’t going to want to have Baldwin up on the big league roster without regular at-bats available to him. It’s possible that he hits well enough this spring to break camp and then forces the issue further by getting out to a hot start in the majors. In that scenario, perhaps Murphy and Baldwin could shoulder a roughly even split of the workload behind the plate. That’d keep both fresh and would mirror many other catching situations around the league, as several clubs have moved away from one iron man catcher and a seldom-used backup (as was more common in prior generations). If Baldwin struggles, though, he could always be sent to Triple-A for further development. He’s still less than three years from being drafted, after all, and has all of 141 games above A-ball under his belt.
The Braves have Murphy signed at $15MM per season through 2028, plus a club option over the former All-Star’s 2029 campaign. Baldwin has yet to debut, meaning he has six years of club control — or nearly seven, if the team keeps him in the minors for more than a couple of weeks in 2025 but bring him to the majors for the remainder of the year.
Drake Baldwin SZN
That swing lookin’ too good to send down. ATL producing catchers for all 30 MLB teams.
To be fair, I don’t think Contreras really became a catcher until after he got to the Brewers.
Keep telling yourself that.
That seems to be the question that is never asked? Was it only the Brewers saw something special and the other 29 clubs just missed on him being an elite player?
He wasn’t a good catcher in Atlanta. Milwaukee has a reputation for coach up catchers. He’s a better catcher now. 1+1+1=3.
Got to be good lookin’ ‘cause he’s so hard to see…
We should have hung onto to Travis for 1 more year. Hopefully the kid has the goods.
Agreed. Drake’s looking too good to send down to AAA miiinors.
He isn’t necessarily facing a steady state of MLB pitchers at this point in spring training. Facing a lot of depth fringe roster player type guys. I find it hard to believe, as much as I want to, he will start the season in the majors. I don’t see giving up a full year of eligibility for a a few weeks of playing time to start the season.
Cracked ribs – no one has a clue how bad that hurts until it happens to you.
This one: I had a couple of fractured ribs and it wasn’t pleasant. Cracked ribs sounds worse.
You guys are talking about the same thing
I have never had it but sounds like it would hurt to do pretty much anything.
I broke 4 ribs last year. Absolutely the worst. he’s gone for 10 weeks minimum. And he won’t be 100% back for a little longer.
Bruised ribs are bad enough.
Good time to give a chance to the young guys to gain some experience. No reason to overreact. He’d be back in a few months.
Sandy Leon mentioned!! Loved his one magical year in Boston (and the other less magical replacement level years). Career .500 hitter in the World Series!
Meow: How about Jorge Alfaro? He’s on a record pace to be dfa’d from more teams than anyone in the history of baseball.
Don’t hex Alfaro, as he is on a nation tour of baseball teams to play on
And don’t forget to mention his beautiful hair.
Datashark: He’s been on 10 teams, including the cubs, though he never made it to the majors with them. 20 more to go!
Still think Milwaukee made out better than the Braves in the Murphy deal.
C: The A’s. Ruiz over Contreras every day, and twice on Sunday.
Trying to troll by claiming a negative WAR player is better than the best catcher in baseball. Well done.
@douglasb – It takes some work to not get that sarcasm.
Still don’t know why the braves traded him just to get older
Also what happened to esteury Ruiz?
Brewers hopped into that deal for no reason other than to get an elite catcher for free. Ruiz was a bust, just runs fast. Surprised Oakland hasn’t traded him yet to another team who sees some potential in him.
You sometimes gotta love the teams who are willing to bamboozle Fisher and Co.
That’s rough.
Damn what is with Murphy and these early season injuries? Big fan of his glove, but AA has to be kicking himself for letting Contreras go.
…Or even for letting Travis d’Arnaud go.
Nah. T.D. was old and about as bad as murphy last year. He just wasn’t hurt.
d’Arnaud was huge for the Braves. Great offensive numbers for a catcher. Far better than Murphy.
T.D. was a league-average hitter at a premium position, and was an average catcher. That has a lot of value.
Let’s be honest.. The defense had been slipping for years. Travis was a clutch hitter but he’s well below average defensively these days. He needs to be a real backup at this point and Snit would never do that to him.
i’d agree that his numbers weren’t great but across a season there are times Travis is the hottest hitter in the lineup. He’s good for a couple walkoffs a year. I don’t necessarily see that with murphy these days…
Not many teams are paying 8M for a backup C at 36 y/o with a history of concussions, and maybe 1 more from retirement. He was a great clubhouse presence, but a luxury on a team with their top prospect being a C with offensive potential and looks like he’s knockin’ on the door.
Murph wasn’t right last year from a G1 oblique and now took one off the ribs. Prior to that he was an All-Star in 2023 and one of the most durable catchers in MLB he had his time behind the plate reduced, in part, b/c of a time-share with d’Arnaud (and Ozuna excelling in a DH spot). While it’s hard for WAR (and other analytics to quantify) intangibles that make d’Arnaud such a great teammate, it’s even more so on Murphy and his ability to make P better, with Sale speaking about how great Murph was last year callin’ some of his best games (knowing Sale does not call his own games).
Bad luck, I suppose, but the post said a pitch hit him, so we can’t yet compare him to Mike Hampton’s level of glass durability.
Imagine Alex Jackson being your opening day catcher
Sucks, but at least we have Baldwin. He may play himself into an everyday starter if he can play well in Murphy’s absence. But, it makes losing d’Arnaud much more painful.
Sucks for Sean. I hope he doesn’t have any lingering issues when he comes back.
I fractured three ribs in high school. I had trouble breathing for a week.
Tromp 2025, Make backup catchers great again. Secure the borders of the strike zone.
Bigly, and MLB better show him some proper respect.
Murphy has been such a bust in ATL.
am starting to think that lopsided A’s deal was not as lopsided anymore.
Milwaukee won the trade for sure, but A’s have 1 player left in deal Ruiz who is on 60day DL – but he did have a decent season and won SB with 67 in ’23 same year as murphy who hit 23hr
Ruiz has a negative career WAR. He’s useless.
ANOTHER HBP INJURY!!
When will MLB take action on the one-sided consequences ??
I didn’t and will not get into intention.
The PROFESSIONAL Pitcher COULD NOT control his thrown ball.
The pitch hit the starting well paid catcher.
He is now out 4 to 6 weeks.
He is subject to pain, suffering, and rehab from this PREVENTABLE injury.
The pitcher who threw the pitch that injured this player should IMMEDIATELY be suspended from play for the length of time that the injured player is unable to perform at the MLB level.
THE GAME HAS CHANGED.
The personal stakes are bigger.
The team’s stakes are bigger.
The financial stakes are bigger.
“OOPS, SORRY, Well it’s just part of the game”
Does not cut it anymore. !!
The Braves lose the services of their big buck starting catcher.
How are the Marlins currently penalized for causing injury to a batter??
DO THEY LOSE THE SERVICES OF A PLAYER??
ARE THEY PENALIZED/FINED FOR THE INURED PLAYER’S PAY??
How is the Marlins pitcher penalized for causing injury to a batter??
IS HE SUSPENDED?
IS HE SENT TO REMEDIAL PITCH CONTROL CAMP?
ARE THEY FORCED TO LOAN THEIR STARTING CATCHER OVER TO PLAY FOR THE BRAVES WHILE MURPHY IS OUT??
(Yea, that last one is an extreme reach.)
This one-sided, antiquated injustice needs to STOP.
MLB TAKE ACTION & FANS DEMAND THAT MLB TAKE ACTION!
…mmmmmkay…
I just searched Google for the remedial pitch control camp location, but only ended up with a hot tar roofing company. Maybe if I capitalized everything it would give me the double secret location.
I believe It’s nextdoor to Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
@BHJ – No matter how off the wall a number of the commenters might get on here, it is “comforting” to know that it all pales in comparison to the daily spectacles of our very own Moscow West Wing. Frankly, we should be sending that entire crew to Pitch Control Camp.
I can see your passion about the issue from the all caps. I still don’t understand why intent would not play a role in punishment, nor whether the batter gets to lean in.
The game has changed but the stakes are actually smaller than they used to be. Players are paid much more than they were in the past enabling players to earn more in a few years than the average American will in a life time. I am reminded of John Jaso who walked away from the game not because he couldn’t play anymore, but because he felt he had made enough to live the rest of his life as he wanted to. Today, sign a MLB contract and it is guaranteed, wasn’t always so. An injury to an established player today doesn’t put them in the poor house.
Also, if a professional pitcher could control all of their pitches, there would be a helluva lot less walks and ball calls.
I suggest if you want risk free sports, stick to video games.
P.S. one way to reduce HBP might be to make pitchers bat. Get rid of the DH. If pitchers batted, then retaliation would be against them. See the Bob Gibson-Tom Seaver incident.
@Jacksson13 you are certainly emphatic in your view, but let’s think this through a bit.
Let’s say a bench role player for the Mets comes up to bat against Chris Sale and he “takes one for the team”. His injury is soft tissue damage that lingered and kept him on the IL the remainder of the season.
Using your argument, the Braves would lose Chris Sale for the season.
One could say that unprofessional behavior of leaning into one or misuse of the IL have no place in baseball…..buts let’s face it, presumably they do.
If a player was “leaning in” to a pitch to take one for the team, that would be in the scope of the authority of the Home Plate Umpire and/or Crew Chief to Disallow any HBP call.
Ridiculous take.
@leftcoaster, looking at Jacksson13’s call for a rule to punish pitchers who injure batters, how is my response ridiculous?
Jacksson13, at this point, sticking to your awfully unfunny puns on ProFootballRumors would work best for you.
Might be good for the Braves in the long run with Baldwin getting his shot. Murphy is going to be his backup in the next year or so.
No way the A’s and Brewers actually fleeced the Braves in that trade.
the A’s, what did they get that is of any value?
Thanks President Trump, but please keep your rants to other social media platforms in the future. We will all thank you
Given he’s only cracked on rib, it seems the mortality rate is about 1 to 2%, so probably safe to say he will survive but the potential is still there.
I’ll send him my thoughts and prayers that he survives.
Travis you’re up ……oh wait.
If the Braves don’t start with Baldwin on Opening Day to delay his service time shame on them!!