The Atlanta Braves' catching situation has been turned on it's head down at spring training with the word of Sean Murphy's rib injury. While some have used the news as an opportunity to look backwards and flame the Murphy trade again, it has also been somewhat exciting as it increased the odds of Drake Baldwin making the big league roster exponentially.
So far, Baldwin has been extremely impressive as he has been hitting the ball hard down at camp and Atlanta's pitching staff has gone out of their way to talk Baldwin up to the media. By all accounts, the Braves were moving forward with preparing Baldwin to start the season in the big leagues.
However, a new wrinkle has emerged with the start of the 2025 season just a few weeks away. According to a report from Jon Heyman, the Braves are looking at free agent catchers right now with Yasmani Grandal and James McCann catching their eye.
Braves Considering Free Agent Catchers https://t.co/a9dio1BQQK pic.twitter.com/FFNCqrXjh1
— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) March 7, 2025
Braves will probably give Drake Baldwin a shot, but they are preparing for Sean Murphy's return
Now, the most pessimistic read of this situation would be saying that the Braves are looking at cheap-ish free agent catchers because the team doesn't think Baldwin is ready and they need an emergency solution to Murphy's absence. This is theoretically possible, but it also doesn't line up with how much playing time Baldwin has been getting in camp, how he has actually played, or with anything anyone associated with the team has said publicly.
The more likely situation in play here is that the Braves are willing to roll the dice with Baldwin, but they want a better option behind him while Murphy is out that could also help once Murphy returns. This implies both that Atlanta isn't overly thrilled with the backup catching options they brought into camp as well as that as soon as Murphy returns, Baldwin is probably getting sent back down to the minors to play regularly.
As for Grandal and McCann, both are guys that have had success in the big leagues, but are well past their primed. Grandal played 72 games with the Pirates in 2024 and posted a pretty pitiful .228/.304/.400 line while McCann was surprisingly similar at .234/.279/.388 in 65 games of work. Both probably aren't going to move the needle much wherever they end up, but could be a nice safety net for the Braves as they try to figure out how to navigate the first month of the season or so.