Sean Murphy hits long homer on first swing of rehab; sputtering Braves could sure use him

Source: The New York Times
Author: David O'Brien

CHICAGO -- The wind was howling out at Wrigley Field in excess of 20 mph at the Atlanta Braves' game Tuesday night, and Orlando Arcia took advantage with a two-run homer off Javier Assad in the second inning to put the Braves up early.

But back in Lawrenceville, Georgia, just north of Atlanta, there was barely a breeze, no wind to aid a monster home run that Braves catcher Sean Murphy hit in the first at-bat of his injury-rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. From the look of things, it might not be a long assignment.

The 449-foot drive caromed off the batter's-eye backdrop in center field in the first inning. Pure power generated by Murphy, with the kind of violent swing he became known for last year in his first season with the Braves, when he had 17 homers, 55 RBIs and a .999 OPS in 67 games before the break and was one of eight Braves on the NL All-Star team.

Those big swings by Murphy made it especially important for the Braves to be methodical with his return from a strained oblique in his left side, which he injured taking a swing on a foul tip on Opening Day. Now he's finally back playing. And the Braves, who went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position in a 10-inning, 4-3 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday night, could use him. The sooner, the better.

Nico Hoerner's high-bouncing infield single off reliever Aaron Bummer with one out in the 10th handed Atlanta its fifth loss in six games and 11th in 19 games. The Braves have hit .214 and averaged 3.0 runs during that 19-game stretch, and they've scored more than five runs just once in the past 21 games.

"We just didn't do a real good job with guys in scoring position," Snitker said. "We needed a couple of hits, and it's been tough to come by lately. Eventually, we're going to get a big hit. When you get in situations like this, they get up there and human nature is to try too hard, probably, instead of relaxing and just letting it flow. They all want to be the guy to do it."

Murphy suffered a Grade 1 strain, the least severe of a four-grade rating system. But the Braves wanted to do all they could to assure he didn't return too soon and risk reinjuring it and having it linger all season, as oblique strains have been known to do.

Snitker said Tuesday afternoon that Murphy was scheduled to catch four innings in his first rehab game, but a few hours later Murphy was behind the plate for seven innings and went 1-for-3 with the homer plus a walk and two runs scored. Before the Braves' game in Chicago, Snitker was told that Murphy had hit a long homer in the first inning of the Triple-A game.

"How many innings did he catch?" Snitker asked reporters after the game. Told it was seven innings, Snitker smiled and said, "He was only supposed to go four. He must be feeling good. Awesome. That's good news."

Murphy also threw out the only runner who attempted to steal against him.

"He's off (Wednesday), then he plays five or six (innings), I think, and DHs (a game)," Snitker said Tuesday afternoon before Murphy strayed from that tentative plan by going seven innings. "I think if everything goes well, he gets through this week, and we'll see how he feels. It'll be good to get him out there swinging live, to tell what's really going on with him.

"But I think he did everything that he could possibly do in preparation for this. Everybody feels really good about where he's at."

They surely felt even better after Murphy mashed a tape-measure homer on his first swing since March 29, the day he got hurt in the season opener.

Murphy was slowed by a hamstring injury last June and faded in the second half of his first season with Atlanta, possibly from playing in far more extreme heat and humidity than during his four seasons with Oakland. But he showed what he can do for a lineup with his torrid offense before the All-Star break.

And the Braves are eager to add him back to a lineup that has sputtered for the better part of a month, with Atlanta scoring the third-fewest runs per game in the majors over the past 30 days. They are 26th in team OPS (.650) in that period -- behind the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox, among others -- despite two homers from Marcell Ozuna in Monday's doubleheader that raised his NL-leading total to 14, and homers from Arcia and Michael Harris II in Tuesday's loss.

Veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud and backup Chadwick Tromp have held things together in Murphy's absence. They're doing a terrific job handling the pitching staff and keeping opponents' running games largely in check with 35-year-old d'Arnaud throwing out seven of 25 would-be base stealers and Tromp throwing out five of 14.

The defense has been strong, though a passed ball charged to d'Arnaud let in the tying run in the second inning Tuesday. The Cubs scored another unearned run in the fifth inning after third baseman Zack Short, who's been filling in for injured Austin Riley, dropped a routine pop fly to start the inning.

When Murphy returns to primary catching duties with d'Arnaud as the second catcher, it could boost a Braves' offense that has sputtered lately.

D'Arnaud had four homers and 10 RBIs in a four-game stretch in mid-April, including a three-hit, six-RBI game on April 19 against Texas. Since then, he's had no homers and three RBIs in 20 games including 17 starts.

Tromp doubled in all three games he played against San Diego during the four-game series that ended Monday, when he started consecutive games after d'Arnaud had dizziness from a foul ball off his mask. But Tromp has hit a modest .244 with no homers and a .633 OPS in 17 games including 14 starts filling in for Murphy, and has one RBI in his past 11 games.

Braves catchers, after ranking fourth in the majors with a .783 OPS in 2023, still are a more-than-respectable eighth with a .767 OPS this season. But after leading the majors with 32 homers and ranking second with 102 RBIs in 2023, Atlanta catchers are tied for 11th with five homers and tied for 14th with 23 RBIs.

Murphy's big bat has been missed.

In his first game of any kind in nearly two months, his first swing connected with a 2-0 cutter from Jacksonville right-hander Kyle Tyler that was up in the zone. The pitch came out of Tyler's hand at 90 mph and left Murphy's bat at 111 mph.

Even after eight weeks away from competitive action, Murphy was too much for a Jumbo Shrimp. And by the end of their six-game trip that began Tuesday, the Braves could have him back in their lineup.

Austin Riley took another step in his recovery from a side strain when he hit soft-tossed baseballs in the batting cage Tuesday afternoon at Wrigley Field. But at this point, it's not a certainty he'll make it back to the lineup before Murphy does.

Riley has been sidelined since straining an intercostal muscle near the lowest rib on his left side while swinging through a pitch on May 12 against the Mets in New York. He's not on the 10-day injured list, but if the Braves had known the third baseman would miss this much time they would've put him on it immediately after the injury.

"This has been driving me nuts," Riley said. "I love being out there competing with the guys. (Going) from playing every day to not playing at all, it's tough for me. But I also understand I want to get this thing right and not have any setbacks, where it could pop up again."

Riley didn't have soreness or other issues when he took groundballs between games of Monday's doubleheader and was cleared to begin swinging the bat. Riley said he would take controlled swings in the cage Monday and didn't know how soon he would be given the green light to start taking harder swings and then facing pitches thrown from the mound, but it's an incremental process. He also took ground balls during batting practice and made some longer throws Tuesday.

"We're headed in the right direction," Snitker said. "He's still gonna be a while. He's got to go through the steps."

Asked if the IL was still a possibility for Riley, Snitker said, "I think it's always going to be, until it's not, really. Just have to wait and see."