ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — How must it feel for the Oakland A’s as they struggle through a dismal season as they watch the strong Braves rack up the most wins, build the best record in baseball and of two every night for the past month Players get big contributions? You moved to Atlanta in the last two years, Matt Olson and Sean Murphy?
They had time to accept and walk away from Olson’s trade ahead of the 2021 season, but the pain of Murphy’s trade in December is fresh and is compounded by the fact that their former Gold Glove catcher restored his previously strong offensive performance in Has certainly taken worse a whole different level in his first half of the season with the Braves. Quite simply: Murphy exceeded all expectations.
He leads MLB catchers in virtually every major offensive category, and his three-run home run in the fourth inning Saturday night in the 6-1 win at Tampa Bay puts him just a home run and 11 RBIs behind the career bests he had in the lined up with Oakland last season. He has 17 home runs and 55 RBIs in 67 games played — 45 percent of his games came from Oakland a year ago, when he finished with 18 home runs and 66 RBIs.
Oh, and he’ll start for the National League at Tuesday’s Seattle All-Star Game, further proof of how resounding Murphy’s first season was with his new team.
As if there needed to be more beyond the Braves’ 60-28 record, his cannon-armed defense, and Murphy’s batting averages of .306 and .999 OPS, who ranks third in the majors — one spot behind teammate Ronald Acuña Jr.’s 1,001 – among hitters with 250 or more plate appearances. Murphy’s 3.7 fWAR ranked fifth in the majors ahead of Saturday, behind four players — Acuña, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Wander Franco — who each had significantly more games and plate appearances than Murphy in 2023, which is notable since WAR is a cumulative Metric.
“He’s a very special player — incredible, fun to watch,” said Braves pitcher Spencer Strider, who hit 11 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings scoreless while limiting the Rays to four hits and a walk and improved to 11-2. tied with most wins at the majors. “You get to the point where I just expect him to hit the ball hard. And the confidence he gives you with the running game and the game – I mean we’ve been pretty lucky behind the plate this year between him and Trav (catcher Travis d’Arnaud). And yes, I mean, the insult of him was unrealistic.”
“It is what it is,” Murphy said with typical modesty. “I just try to do the same things every day. I don’t look at results and take too much into account. I worry more about winning games. But if I can help on offense, I’ll take it.”
The Braves have won 27 of 31 games and advanced to a season high with 32 games over .500. They become the 11th team since 2000 to have 60 wins before the break. They also hit a home run in their 25th straight game, setting a franchise record in modern times.
The only negative on Saturday, reliever AJ Minter went out in the eighth inning with a left pectoral strain after hitting Yandy Diaz and throwing two throws to Franco. But Minter told his team-mates: “I’ll be fine” as he left the pitch, saying afterwards he was certain it was nothing significant, just a tight spot he knew better than to try to get through. He said no testing is planned or expected to be needed and he hopes to be back to normal by Sunday.
The All-Star break, which begins Monday, comes at a good time for Minter, although he and several other Braves have said in recent days they wish they didn’t have to play for four days given the successes they’ve had so far stop .
“We just played great,” Strider said. “Right now it feels like every part is clicking. Even as a game progresses, if someone is struggling, the offense is struggling or we’re going behind, it’s good to know that the other half of the team will pick you up and find a solution, and that’s what happens. We play pretty loose and it feels good.”
When they took over Murphy as the centerpiece of a team of three in December that saw catcher William Contreras sent to Milwaukee and up-and-coming talent Kyle Muller and Freddy Tarnok moved to Oakland (among the six players Atlanta parted with as part of the deal), they would be Braves would have been satisfied if Murphy performed as well this season as he did last season. In 2022, he averaged .250 in 148 games with an OPS of .759.
But he far surpassed that level of performance in his first season with the Braves, who signed 28-year-old Murphy on a six-year, $73 million deal within two weeks of the transfer. His time behind the plate was intentionally shortened because the 2022 All-Star d’Arnaud gets a larger share of duties than a traditional second catcher.
Murphy’s performance on the record has improved significantly and he continues to be the front runner. The Braves think getting more rest than a year ago may have helped him so far, especially given the hotter weather he’s been experiencing this season compared to four seasons with Oakland.
“I think it’s good that we’re not tiring him out,” Snitker said. “He can catch two balls out of three and that’s great. keep him strong I think it’s probably had a positive impact on his production here and like I said, as much as Travis can, we’re definitely getting a lot of productivity out of this position, that’s for sure.”
In the Braves’ first 88 games, Murphy made 58 starts as a catcher and four as a designated hitter, after starting 130 games as a catcher and 30 as a designated hitter at Oakland a year ago. The Braves don’t need him as a DH unless he catches, at least not given Marcell Ozuna’s significant offensive improvement since May 1st.
Murphy’s workload spanned a period from April 9 to May 9, when he started 24 of 29 games as a catcher while d’Arnaud was recovering from a concussion. Murphy was the DH in three of the five games Chadwick Tromp caught in that period. During that month-long effort, he showed little, if any, fatigue.
Since d’Arnaud’s return, Murphy has caught two out of three games with the Braves, except for five games from June 18-24 when Murphy was sidelined with a hamstring strain and d’Arnaud caught every day.
D’Arnaud, who will watch Sunday’s series finale in Tampa Bay, has an average (.276) and OPS (.832) in 35 games than he did a year ago when he averaged .261 with a .771 OPS of 63 Played before the break and was an All-Star for the first time. He finished last season with 18 homers, 60 RBIs and a .791 OPS in 426 PAs and has seven homers and 22 RBIs in 142 plate appearances this season despite being on the injured list for a month.
When asked how well d’Arnaud was handling his reduced role, Snitker said, “I just think that if he does that, I think he has a chance to play a long time.” And it’s just so good ; We split it up pretty well. We knew Murph was probably going to get the bulk of it, and it’s great to have a guy like Travis backing him up – or sharing the duties, I guess – and as we’ve seen when one or the other gets nicked , then the other can carry the torch for a longer period of time.”
Charlie Morton threw 6 1/3 innings with four hits and one run ball in Friday’s 2-1 win at Tampa Bay and improved to 4-0 in his last five starts with a 2.28 ERA. Murphy hit a two-run homer all along Atlanta’s offense in that game and also threw out two potential base stealers.
“It’s great,” Morton said of Murphy’s work. “And like I said, we also have the luxury of having two (catchers) who are so good and so fun to work with and they’re just good people. I look forward to seeing them every day. Working with Murph is great. And the way he swings the bat and everything. Everything about him. Just a great guy.”
Under catching coach Sal Fasano, the Braves have a game prep component with daily meetings involving the starting pitcher, both catchers, Fasano, and coach/former Braves catcher Eddie Perez, and at least one of the team’s analysis experts. During games, it is common for pitchers not only to talk to pitching coach Rick Kranitz in the dugout, but also to talk to Fasano and one or both catchers and share their observations and ideas that either of them might have during the game.
Murphy said his relationship with d’Arnaud – the veteran catcher was the first Brave to call him after the December trade – and Fasano helped him tremendously in his transition to a new team and league.
“I can’t say enough good things about these guys,” Murphy said. “They are the reason I have the success I have. They make my life easier when it comes to finding the pitchers, running the game and working with the staff. So I’m relying on these two guys and their experience. So these guys deserve a lot of credit.”
(Photo by Matt Olson and Sean Murphy: Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today)