Braves lose Sean Murphy for at least a month with rib injury

The Atlanta Braves endured an avalanche of injuries in 2024, but they managed to claw their way out just in time to clinch a playoff berth. Fans desperately hope that the franchise avoids a similar fate during the 2025 season. Alas, misfortune continues to plague this ballclub. All-Star catcher Sean Murphy suffered a cracked rib and will be sidelined for four to six weeks, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.

This is brutal news for a player who missed a huge chunk of last year with an oblique strain and subsequently saw his production plummet. Since the Braves no longer have the luxury of rostering another All-Star at the position, with Travis d’Arnaud now playing for the Los Angeles Angels, their catcher depth is a glaring question mark.

Top prospect Drake Baldwin, who is batting .333 in 12 spring training at-bats, could debut in the big leagues a littler quicker than people anticipated due to this crushing setback. Murphy’s two-plus-year tenure with Atlanta has been erratic, to say the least.

Can Sean Murphy get back on track for Braves?

The former Oakland Athletics Gold Glover thrived in his first three months with the Braves and earned a spot in the Midsummer Classic. But he has been on a downward trajectory for a while now. Health played a big role in Murphy’s 2024 struggles. He sunk below the Mendoza Line with a .193 batting average and posted a feeble .352 slugging percentage and .636 OPS. in 74 games. The bright side to a bleak campaign is that the 30-year-old hit 10 home runs in the abbreviated sample size.

He will not get the chance to flaunt his respectable power for quite a bit, however. Atlanta’s lineup underachieved as a group last season, and with Ronald Acuna Jr. recovering from another ACL tear, manager Brian Snitker might want to lean on his pitching staff to begin the 2025 slate of action. That is easier to do if the team maintains continuity behind home plate.

Sean Murphy will need to epitomize mental strength in the coming weeks and try his best to stay positive ahead of another cumbersome rehabilitation process. The nature of the injury can obviously have a negative effect on his swing, but when the time is right, this key player will ideally look closer to his old self.

Until then, the Braves better do their darnedest to get back in the good graces of Lady Luck.