PHILADELPHIA – On a swing in the seventh inning, Braves catcher Sean Murphy felt his left oblique. He immediately grimaced and grabbed his side.
Pain? Discomfort?
“A combination of both,” Murphy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Uncomfortable.”
He left the game. Travis d’Arnaud finished the at-bat by striking out swinging – a strikeout charged to Murphy.
The Braves said Murphy departed with left oblique tightness. He’ll need to go on the injured list, Braves manager Brian Snitker said. Snitker added that Murphy will undergo imaging on Saturday.
“I hate it for him,” Snitker said. “He had a really nice end to his spring, was feeling good. Just one of those freak things that happen in baseball. I look around like, thank God we got a guy of Travis’ caliber to step in now. … We’re blessed to have two number ones on our club. I just hate it for Murph because he’s done everything right, he had a really nice finish to his spring, was excited about getting here. Just one of them things that happens.”
The Braves will likely recall Chadwick Tromp on Saturday, when they officially put Murphy on the injured list. Tromp was in Triple-A Gwinnett’s starting lineup before the affiliate’s opener, but he didn’t end up starting.
For now, Murphy can only hope it isn’t a lengthy injured-list stint. This is the first time he’s ever dealt with an oblique injury. He’s keeping a level head about it.
“Yeah, no point in worrying about it,” he said. “It’s just going to be what it is. So, do the imaging and see what it is. Talking to other guys who have done it, they’re like, ‘Yeah, I couldn’t walk.’ I don’t have that problem. Hopefully the imaging comes back and it’s fairly minor. I don’t know. Then we’ll just play it by ear. It’s one of those things I think you have to.”
This is a bummer for the Braves, who celebrated a 9-3 win over the Phillies on their opening day. They bullied Philadelphia’s bullpen. They pitched well.
Murphy’s injury was the one negative.
“For me, I just think of the work that Murph’s put in in spring training and in the offseason,” d’Arnaud said. “For something like that to happen opening day, it stinks and I just feel bad for him.”
Murphy is an elite defender, but the Braves are in great hands with d’Arnaud. He can impact the game on both sides of the chalk. He would start on many other clubs.
And Snitker professed faith in Tromp, who was in big-league camp for almost the entirety of spring training.
“He does a really good job,” Snitker said. “He did again this spring. He swings the bat, we’ve seen him do that. His handling of the pitching staff. He’s worked with (catching coach) Sal (Fasano) and Travis and Murph all spring. We kept him a long time in the spring just for that reason, and I got every confidence in the world with him.”
Murphy didn’t know why it happened now. As Snitker said, it probably was a freak incident. These things happen.
The weather was cold and windy, but Murphy was sweating while catching. He was loose. He had already had two at-bats before the injury.
Who knows what happened?
“No reason I can tell you,” Murphy said. “I don’t know.”
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