Are Braves catcher Sean Murphy’s new glasses helping? They’re not hurting

It started how most people begin wearing glasses.

“I just found myself squinting at road signs or something, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s probably not the best,’” Murphy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Got (my eyes) checked out.”

This was over the offseason. But Murphy suffered a cracked rib in spring training, so he did not debut the sports specs until Tuesday, when he came off the injured list for the series opener against the Phillies.

Murphy with the glasses?

Three homers and six RBIs in four games – including two bombs that helped the Braves beat the Rays, 5-4, at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Saturday.

Coincidence?

“You know, I can’t really tell (if there’s) a difference,” Murphy said. “I know they help. It’s not, like, night and day or anything like that. I think it’s just a little improvement. I don’t think it’s anything to point to – it’s a couple good games.”

“It’s not hurting,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t know, maybe (the glasses are helping). There might be something to it. I mean, you get tested and everything – and a little bit in your eyes in baseball is huge. His at-bats have been really good, that’s for sure.”

On Tuesday, Murphy pulverized a three-run shot off Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, then drove in another run later in Atlanta’s victory. On Saturday, he homered in the seventh, then tied the game with an eighth-inning shot as the Braves went back-to-back, with Ozzie Albies going yard right before Murphy.

Murphy’s new glasses, made by Oakley, are half-rim specs – and the rim, which runs along the top of the lenses and around the ears, is black. The bottoms of the lenses are clear. It’s a sleek look.

Murphy is humble. Of course he won’t make too much about the glasses. And really, this is a small sample size, and he had power before he wore glasses.

A rational person would account for these things.

But life is too short to write off a fun narrative, right? Those glasses have to be helping, no?

“I might have to get me some,” Michael Harris II said with a smile not long after blasting a go-ahead, two-run bomb in the ninth inning – his first career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later.

Murphy’s offseason eye appointment revealed astigmatism in one of his eyes. The doctor gave him a new pair of glasses to see if those helped. And before using glasses on the field, he tried contacts.

“I messed around with contacts in spring and I was very uncomfortable, and I don’t think I gave them enough time, probably,” Murphy said. “Maybe I would’ve gotten comfortable eventually. But I don’t know. I won’t change it for now.”

Nope. The glasses are working. No need to fool with that.

But those contacts – they didn’t feel comfortable?

“Yeah, and I was, like, seeing double with the contacts in,” Murphy said. “But that was also because I didn’t put them in good and my eyes were bloodshot. Yeah, I was, like, mangling my eyeball trying to get them in and out. So, I think glasses are easier.”

The glasses seem easier. And again, they’re working. Why mess with a good thing?

Especially because Murphy’s new specs have brought camaraderie for infielder Nick Allen, who also began wearing glasses this season.

“Oh, 100 percent,” Allen said. “It doesn’t make me look too much different from a lot of the other guys. I have another guy that I look the same as him.”

Like Murphy, Allen had his eyes checked over the offseason. Allen began wearing the specs in spring training, and he and Murphy would talk about them. The two have discussed whether they notice a big difference. Allen thinks the glasses definitely help – especially in baseball, a game in which slightly better eyesight might make a massive improvement.

“No, 100 percent,” Allen said. “I think in the offseason, I got to a point one of the nights where I was driving and I was like, ‘You know, I think I need to get some glasses and really try this thing out.’ Because sometimes at night, I was just like, ‘It’s just a little blurry, and I feel like I could see better.’”

He’s seeing better. So, too, is Murphy. Neither completely credit the specs. But they agree that the glasses help.

“I’m not going to credit anything, but it’s just what I’m doing now,” Murphy said.

The Braves on Saturday overcame a two-run deficit to win. In the victory, many guys played a part, from starter AJ Smith-Shawver, to relievers Rafael Montero and Dylan Lee, to Murphy and Harris and Albies. This was a team win.

For most of the evening, it seemed as if the Braves might once again regret their missed opportunities with runners in scoring position. They scored their five runs on four homers to flip that narrative.

The happiest man might’ve been their manager, who didn’t need to find yet another way to talk about a quiet offense.

“Believe me, it’s huge. It’s huge,” Snitker said. “I told (bench coach) Walt (Weiss) in the dugout, ‘I’m running out of things to say, honestly.’ So this is good. I’d rather talk about this kind of stuff, and how we hung in that game and came back.”

Murphy’s first homer gave the Braves their first run. His second homer tied it.

Since coming off the injured list, Murphy has given the Braves a necessary injection of offense to go along with his terrific defense. His first week, on both sides of the chalk, has cemented him as the Braves’ primary catcher. It’s clear top prospect Drake Baldwin, as impressive as his at-bats have been, needs a bit more work. It might serve him best to play every day in Triple A, though the Braves haven’t yet made that decision.

Murphy’s return from the injured list also brought the debut of his glasses. When he played at Wright State years ago, he never knew he might one day wear specs.

“No, I always felt like I had pretty decent vision,” Murphy said. “But I don’t know. Just felt like getting tested.”

Are the specs helping?

Well, they’re not hurting.

“I didn’t really know he wore glasses, but, I mean, they’re working,” Harris said. “He’s doing what he needs to do, he’s swinging the bat, he’s been an exciting player catching, calling good games and keeping the runner from getting to second. So, he’s doing a good job.”