Braves catcher set to undergo season-ending surgery

Catcher Sean Murphy has been playing through hip discomfort for the past three years, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told the Atlanta Braves beat Monday (link via Mark Bowman of MLB.com). While Murphy had been playing through pain that “would come and go,” per Anthopoulos, the issue reached a tipping point recently and prompted an MRI to take a look at how severe the issue had become. That revealed a torn labrum in Murphy’s hip, which will require season-ending surgery. The procedure will be performed Thursday.

“…in talking to [Dr. Thomas Byrd, who’ll perform the surgery] today, he was stunned [Murphy] had been playing the last three years with a significant tear,” said Anthopoulos.

Murphy hit .233/.332/.491 (126 wRC+) with 16 homers and a dozen doubles in 271 plate appearances through the end of July this season, but his offensive production cratered beginning in August. From Aug. 1 through what’ll now go down as his final plate appearance of the season on Saturday, he went 4-for-59 with a 34.8% strikeout rate. The resulting .068/.167/.085 batting line served as a screaming indicator that something clearly wasn’t right with Murphy.

Atlanta Braves president of baseball ops speaks on Ha-Seong Kim, Brian Snitker

Anthopoulos also touched on the topic of recently claimed shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, who has a $16M player option for the 2026 season (link via David O’Brien of The Athletic). Atlanta’s longtime president of baseball ops acknowledged talking with the Rays about Kim at the deadline as well, and while no deal came together, the organization is glad to have nabbed Kim off waivers and hopes the 29-year-old (30 next month) will opt into the second season of his contract.

“Getting him in our clubhouse, him getting to know us, us getting to know him — whether he doesn’t opt out or does, we’re both in a better position,” Anthopoulos said of Kim. “We know more about each other. Had he been in Tampa and opted out (of the option), and now we’re coming to the table to talk to him, I can’t tell you we separate ourselves from any other team that he hasn’t played for.”

It’s been a lost season overall for Kim. The former Padres standout had shoulder surgery last October and inked a two-year, $29M deal with Tampa Bay — the second season of which is a player option. Kim returned in early July but has twice been on the injured list since that time due to lower back troubles. Kim is hitting just .231/.302/.346 overall this season (81 wRC+), but he’s been good in six games with Atlanta: 6-for-20 with a home run, a walk and only three strikeouts in 23 plate appearances.

At his best, Kim is a plus defensive shortstop and plus runner with nearly average power. He’ll draw walks at an above-average clip and put the ball in play more often than the standard big leaguer. He hasn’t been at his best in 2025, but given the thin market for free-agent shortstops and the lack of in-house alternatives to defensive standout but light-hitting Nick Allen, it makes sense that Atlanta proactively jumped to bring Kim into the fold. There’s no firm guarantee he’ll pick up his $16M player option, but his struggles this year make that a real possibility, at which point the Braves are effectively bringing him into the 2026 fold on a one-year pillow contract.

Of course, one of the biggest questions on the minds of Braves fans is who’ll manage the club next season. Brian Snitker just notched his 800th managerial win this week, but the 69-year-old Braves lifer was noncommittal when asked about continuing on beyond the current season when asked back in March.

Asked about his manager’s future, Anthopoulos said (via O’Brien) that Snitker would be “in this organization forever” but declined to discuss whether that means Snitker will continue managing the team. Anthopoulos did reveal that the team has “absolutely not” begun doing background work on a potential replacement, adding that it would be “completely disrespectful” to Snitker to do so.

Snitker, second to only Bobby Cox in Braves managerial wins, has been in the organization for nearly 50 years — the past nine as the major league manager. He’s previously managed at nearly every minor league level in the system, spent more than a decade on the major league coaching staff (bullpen coach, third base coach) and has worked in a variety of instructional capacities in the Braves’ minor league ranks.

Fans — Braves fans in particular — will want to check out O’Brien’s piece for a full slate of quotes on Murphy, Kim, Snitker, Drake Baldwin’s Rookie of the Year candidacy, the struggles (and recent turnarounds) from Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II, and a good bit more.