When Sean Murphy arrived in the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics, Matt Olson was already there. Few have enjoyed a better view of Murphy\u2019s career progression than Olson, who knows first-hand what the Braves catcher brings both defensively behind the plate and offensively at the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he\u2019s got that right-center stroke down, is normally when you see stuff kind of start taking off for him,\u201d Olson said. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s as powerful as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Olson was pointing to Murphy\u2019s 407-foot solo homer to the Braves bullpen in right-center field at Truist Park last Sunday \u2014 yet another example of what has been a well-timed hot streak.<\/p>\n
Since Aug. 25, when he began playing more consistently, Murphy has gone 9-for-20 with three home runs and an OPS of 1.850. It comes as the Braves navigate a critical stretch, continuing with Friday\u2019s game against the Phillies.<\/p>\n
Murphy\u2019s bat staying hot would go a long way toward helping the Braves fend off the Phillies, who enter this four-game series at Citizens Bank Park trailing Atlanta by four games. The clubs will play seven times in the next 10 days.<\/p>\n
When asked about the recent stretch, Murphy defaulted to his typical low-key style.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou only got more games coming,\u201d Murphy said, \u201cso it\u2019s always a work in progress.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB September callups to note<\/p>\n
Keith Law<\/p>\n
But at least for now, the work can progress. That hasn\u2019t always been the case this season. Two stints on the injured list have cost him 110 games this year \u2014 35 games after missing all of spring training recovering from hip surgery, and then 72 games as he recovered from a fractured middle finger.<\/p>\n
When he\u2019s been on the field, the 31-year-old is hitting .242 with three home runs and eight RBIs over 18 games. His defense is also an asset, which isn\u2019t surprising considering his work last season. In 94 games in 2025, Murphy\u2019s ranked in the 94th percentile with eight blocks above average and in the 89th percentile with four caught stealing above average.<\/p>\n
He has also been essential to the Braves\u2019 pitch planning \u2014 an everyday luxury that was not available when both Murphy and Drake Baldwin went on the injured list mid-summer. The Braves went through five catchers during Murphy\u2019s second stint on the IL. It wasn\u2019t ideal for game planning or offensive production, as those five catchers combined to go 18-for-95.<\/p>\n
Now, the Braves are benefiting from a consistent catcher who has worked with most of the pitchers on staff. Murphy has taken his spot at the front of the Braves\u2019 pitch planning, with both pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and catching coach Dustin Garneau, while also helping Baldwin with his planning.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also established an easy in-game rapport with Tyler Mahle, whose 1.48 ERA is third-best since the Braves acquired him at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. All of Mahle\u2019s games with Atlanta have been caught by Murphy.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been in the league for a while, and that seems to also help me and anybody out,\u201d Mahle said. \u201cBut when a guy has seen all these hitters and knows pitch calling \u2014 it\u2019s super helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps just as important, Murphy\u2019s return and production give manager Walt Weiss options. It\u2019s possible the best version of the Braves lineup during this crucial stretch features both Baldwin and Murphy.<\/p>\n
On days when Murphy catches, the Braves still use Baldwin at designated hitter. As a DH this season, he\u2019s hitting .294 with 10 homers, compared to .264 with 12 homers while behind the plate.<\/p>\n
The split duties allow Baldwin to rest his body more, an important luxury after being sidelined for nearly a month with a strained right oblique. It\u2019s an option only because Murphy has come back \u2014 and been productive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great tandem,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cThat\u2019s how it was designed, before Murphy got hurt. Drake\u2019s bat is so important to our lineup that it\u2019s huge. Murphy can take down a lot of the innings back there and keep Drake fresh and keep that bat alive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Sean Murphy arrived in the major leagues with the Oakland Athletics, Matt Olson was already there. Few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":836540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2111,363,99],"class_list":["post-836539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}