Opening Day inches closer as Spring Training approaches its close. It's been a rather uneventful Spring for the Atlanta Braves and that's a good thing. Fans had an early injury scare with their MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. but things ended up being fine and crisis was averted.
Sean Murphy decided he would begin the final week of Spring games with a flourish. Atlanta's catcher is coming off an impressive season that saw him earn his first All-Star Game appearance. He regressed in the second half but still helped the Braves with great play behind the plate.
Murphy decided it was time to provide fans with rocket launches as he absolutely obliterated a couple of baseballs against the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon. Both balls were no-doubt home runs to left field.
Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford couldn't figure out a way to get Murphy out early on. The Braves catcher launched the first pitch he saw from the youngster into left-center field, giving the team a 3-0 lead over Boston.
However, in the fourth inning, Murphy hammered a ball out of the stadium. You don't even need to see the clip to know he got all of the baseball. It was a loud crack off the bat on a 1-2 count and sailed right over the right field seats.
Sean Murphy is 2-for-2 today with two 2-run crush jobs! 💪 pic.twitter.com/hz0lXpBo8x
— MLB (@MLB) March 24, 2024
NASA may need to be on notice for a ball in orbit. I mean, you couldn't find a better rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. Even Boston's commentators were in awe of how far the ball was hit. Both pitches he hit out were cutters that caught too much of the plate up in the zone. That's not a spot you want to miss with Sean Murphy.
Murphy started slow in Spring Training but if this is him ramping things up into the regular season, watch out. Sean already hit a career high in home runs in 2023 and it appears he may want to try and match or better that total in 2024.
Right now, Fangraphs ZiPS projections have Murphy with a .254 average with 106 hits including 22 home runs and 72 RBI. So, his projections don't indicate a massive drop in performance. It will be yet another exciting season for the Braves backstop. Hopefully with more exciting moments like he provided fans on Sunday.