The Braves shouldn’t wait to acquire a catcher

The Atlanta Braves received even more grim news on Sean Murphy yesterday, as further testing revealed a fractured middle finger. It’s an injury expected to require roughly eight weeks just to heal, and Murphy will likely need another 2-3 weeks after that to ramp back up before returning to Atlanta.

That puts Alex Anthopoulos in a difficult spot.

The Braves still believe in Murphy and view him as someone capable of being an integral piece moving forward. He’s also owed $15 million annually through the 2028 season. Atlanta is not going to move on from him unless another club is willing to take that contract off their hands, which feels highly unlikely given the injury history.

At the same time, the Braves can’t really afford to sit around this season waiting to see whether Murphy can get healthy and rediscover his form. Catcher is arguably the most important position on the field, and Atlanta is now one injury away from finding itself in a brutal situation depth-wise.

It will be a major point of emphasis leading up to the trade deadline and feels like something the Braves would prefer to address sooner rather than later.

Trades this early in the season are uncommon, but they certainly happen. The San Francisco Giants just traded two-time Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey to the Cleveland Guardians last week, and reports have suggested several struggling contenders could begin entertaining trade discussions much earlier than usual this season.

With Drake Baldwin already in the fold, this doesn’t need to be a franchise-altering move. But the Braves should be able to find a meaningful upgrade over Sandy León well before the trade deadline arrives.

It wouldn’t be surprising if something materialized before the end of the month.