The Atlanta Braves placed catcher Sean Murphy on the 10-day injured list with a right hip labral tear that will knock him out for the rest of the 2025 season.
Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Monday that Dr. Thomas Byrd will perform surgery on Thursday in Nashville. The seven-year veteran may be able to report to spring training with no restrictions and has a chance to open the season on the 26-man roster.
“He’s tried to manage this the last three years or so, and he should be a much better player once this is resolved,” Anthopoulos said.
Murphy, 30, has struggled with injuries since earning All-Star honors in his first season (2023) with the Braves. He posted career highs in home runs (21) and RBIs (68) that season, but has started each of the last two campaigns on the injured list and failed to reach the 100 games in each of the last two seasons.
A left oblique injury held him out of the lineup until late May 2024 and a left ribcage fracture cost him the first 10 days this season. The Braves now believe the oblique injury could have been the result of Murphy overcompensating for the lingering hip issue.
He clubbed 16 home runs this season, but his last homer came on July 12 vs. St. Louis. At that point, Murphy owned a .236/.314/.523 slash line. But after slogging through a 4-for-59 stretch in August and September, Murphy finishes the year with a .199/.300/.409 performance. First-year phenom Drake Baldwin, who has 15 home runs and 63 RBIs in 106 games, will take over a larger share of the catching duties.
Atlanta selected the contract of veteran catcher Sandy Leon from Triple-A Gwinnett and he will be active as the Braves host the Cubs for a three-game set.
