The Atlanta Braves are rolling this season and that's without their sluggers thriving so far. On top of that, first-string catcher Sean Murphy hasn't played since Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies when he strained his oblique.
Although Murphy isn't quite ready to return, he took an important step towards getting behind the dish again on Wednesday.
Via David O'Brien:
“Braves’ Sean Murphy has caught bullpen sessions the past two days, another progression in his rehab from left oblique strain. He’s making strong throws, but has yet to begin swinging a bat. No timetable, but Braves have luxury of being cautious because of d’Arnaud/Tromp combo.”
Obviously Murphy throwing the baseball at a high intensity is good, but until he's actually swinging the bat, it's hard to know when he'll be back in the fold. When the injury did happen, skipper Brian Snitker knew he'd be out for a prolonged period:
“It's going to be a while, holy cow,” Snitker said. “He's a big strong guy. Hopefully, it's sooner rather than later.
“I hate it for him,” Snitker said. “He had a really nice end to his spring and he was really feeling good, and it was just one of those freak things that happen in baseball.”
For the time being, the Braves are just fine at the catcher position, with both Travis D'Arnaud and Chadwick Chomp seeing playing time. D'Arnaud is the main option, however, having featured in 19 games and hitting .293 with five home runs and 15 RBI. The veteran is producing.
Braves are looking great
Atlanta's big guns like Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ronald Acuna Jr have endured slow starts to the campaign. But, it hasn't mattered one bit. The Braves are 16-6 and rank first in the Majors in almost every offensive category, including runs, hits, average, OBP, slugging, and OPS, Marcell Ozuna is a big reason for that. The DH is absolutely tearing the cover off the baseball, batting .326 with nine long balls and 27 RBI in 22 appearances.
D'Arnaud spoke on how the main stars haven't yet found their stride and believes Atlanta's best baseball is still ahead, which is a scary sight for the rest of the bigs.
Via The Athletic:
“It’s crazy, I feel like we’ve been playing good baseball, but I don’t feel like we’ve been playing as good as we can,” d’Arnaud said. “Obviously Ozo’s been carrying a big load of that. So, I think as the season goes on we’ll hopefully just keep getting better and better. I think as the season goes and we get in that kind of groove, it’ll be fun. And fun to watch.”
Sean Murphy is a key piece
The combo of Murphy and D'Arnaud behind the plate is one of the best around. Murphy is an elite backstop who had a respectable debut campaign in Georgia last year, slashing .251 with 21 bombs and 68 RBI. The former Oakland Athletic was named an All-Star.
By the looks of it, Murphy probably won't begin a rehab assignment in the minors until early May at the very earliest, so a return to Atlanta may not come until the second half of next month. But, only time will tell.