Braves' Sean Murphy Ready to Hit Another Hot Streak?

So much about being a professional athlete is consistency.

Every player at the MLB level has talent. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there. But the best hitters and pitchers generally avoid long slumps.

Unfortunately for the Atlanta Braves, Murphy hasn't been very consistent this year. But different from last season, he has experienced some tremendous highs. Like April, when he had seven home runs in the span of 15 games.

Murphy showed signs of returning to that form over the weekend versus the Philadelphia Phillies.

In Saturday's 6-1 victory, Murphy provided huge insurance with a grand slam in the seventh inning. Incredibly, it was Atlanta's first grand slam of the season. It was also Murphy's first homer in almost a month.

Before Saturday, Murphy last homered on May 29, ironically, also against the Phillies.

But it didn't take nearly as long for the catcher to get his next home run. Murphy went deep again Sunday in the second inning.

Murphy finished the weekend 3-for-8 with three extra-base hits, including the two homers.

It's obviously a small sample but it perhaps indicates more strong offensive performances are coming next week for the veteran catcher.

Murphy hit a home run in his first at-bat of the season against the Phillies (I'm sensing a theme) on April 8. That started a string of four bombs for the catcher in his first six games of the year.

In late April, Murphy had another stretch of home run power, as he went deep three times in five contests. Just like this weekend, he smashed homers on back-to-back days on April 21 and 22.

The Braves could use a similar Murphy onslaught of power right now. Murphy's solo homer Sunday accounted for the only run the Braves mustered versus the Phillies. In their past five games, the Braves scored just 10 runs and have been shut out twice.

Rookie catcher Drake Baldwin has cooled off considerably too. Baldwin is 8-for-45 (.178) in his last 54 plate appearances dating back to June 6.

If Murphy can provide some pop, even for a little while, it could provide the Braves some production from the bottom half of the order. That's something the team has desperately missed this season.

The Braves will need more than just Murphy staying hot to turn things around -- Atlanta is 4-6 in its last 10 games since getting back on track briefly in the middle of June -- but his bat is something positive to cling to after a disappointing series loss to the Phillies.