The Braves receive a promising injury update on Sean Murphy, with one important caveat.
Atlanta’s primary catcher in 2024 is making good progress, but he must overcome an essential hurdle before we can set a timetable.
Despite Travis d’Arnaud’s recent rampage, the Atlanta Braves have been curiously silent about Sean Murphy’s rehabilitation from an oblique injury. Aside than learning that Murphy had increased his activities a few days ago, there has been no indication of a schedule for his return.
Oblique injuries can be exceedingly volatile, so it’s reasonable that the Braves have taken a cautious approach to his recuperation. However, before to the Braves’ game against the Marlins, we learned much more about what Murphy is doing (and not doing) and when fans might expect to see him on the field again.
Braves News: Sean Murphy is catching bullpens and throwing but has not yet been cleared to hit.
While the latter portion of Bowman’s tweet/post/whatever they are called today is guesswork, it appears to be well-informed and realistic. The Braves cannot afford for Murphy’s injury to linger late in the season and cost them during the stretch run. Giving Murph at least a few more days before he begins taking hacks is a wise idea, especially given that he was injured on a swing, even if fans/observers are antsy. The fact that he can already catch and throw is encouraging, but caution should be exercised here.
It doesn’t hurt that the Braves and Travis d’Arnaud are now playing quite well, so there’s no sense to rush things. So far this season, d’Arnaud has a 1.009 OPS, including a hot streak of five home runs and 11 RBIs in his last five games. The Braves are winning, TdA is raking…why take chances with Murphy’s recovery?
Surprisingly, this situation was inverted last year, as Murphy had to shoulder a lot of playing time in the first half as d’Arnaud was out for a long period of time with a concussion in 2023. One hopes Murphy can return before TdA gets too gassed, as Murphy struggled with this previous season, particularly during Atlanta’s hot summer months. However, this is the hand the Braves have been dealt, and it appears that TdA is very fresh at the moment.
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