A big part of the Atlanta Braves' strategy in letting Marcell Ozuna walk in free agency is that they have two catchers on the roster that they want to give regular plate appearances to. One of those backstops is reigning NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin, who is likely to be in the lineup on most days one way or another. The other is Sean Murphy, who has not only struggled the last couple of years, but who is also coming back from a pretty serious hip injury.
Murphy's hip got so bad last season that he finally told the Braves' medical staff after dealing with the pain for literal years. The diagnosis was a significant labral tear, and Murphy needed surgery to correct the problem. Since having the surgery, the only real update this offseason about him was that the Braves didn't think he would be ready for Opening Day.
Well, Braves players are starting to arrive down in spring training, including Murphy, who spoke with the media upon his arrival at the park on Tuesday. While he unfortunately still does not have a firm timeline for his return, Murphy did say that he was making real progress and was progressing to running at the start of spring training.
Braves catcher Sean Murphy says he doesn’t have a timeline for his return, but is “checking boxes” and will start to run today here at CoolToday Patk
— Chad Bishop (@MrChadBishop) February 10, 2026
Sean Murphy's return to Braves still does not have a timeline, but his recovery seems to be going well
So far, all signs are pointing to the initial guess of a May return for Murphy being pretty close to accurate. It is clear from Murphy that he still has progress to make in his recovery from his surgery, and the Braves are not going to rush him. Labral tears are no joke, especially for guys who have to crouch behind the plate for nine innings a night and control the running game. However, it is great to see that he is going to be able to run this week, and how that goes should give some real clues as to how far away from a return he is.
What the Braves' catching timeshare is upon Murphy's return will be interesting. It will almost certainly be true that Baldwin will get the massive bulk of the starts behind the plate through the 2026 season's first month and a half or so. Giving him a bit of a break in May with more starts at DH could be the best way to preserve Baldwin for the long season. However, the more likely outcome is that Atlanta slowly reintroduces Murphy back to catching to allow his body to continue to heal and get back in shape.
It is just exciting to be getting actual updates on what is going on with the Braves instead of having to read the tiniest of tea leaves for insights. What will be curious next will be how all of Atlanta's injured arms are doing.