PHILADELPHIA — Not long after Friday’s game, the Braves knew they would be without catcher Sean Murphy for a bit. How long? That remains to be seen.
On Saturday, Murphy received an MRI that revealed a Grade 1 strain of the left oblique muscle. As expected, the Braves placed Murphy on the 10-day injured list and brought up catcher Chadwick Tromp to back up Travis d’Arnaud.
“It’s gonna be a while (for Murphy),” Braves manager Brian Snitker said before Saturday’s game at Citizens Bank Park. “Holy cow, you hate them things. But he’s a big, strong guy and hopefully it’s sooner than later.”
After the game, Snitker said it was “probably the best outcome.” It could’ve been a worse strain in terms of the grade.
“It was the best possible news as far as the imaging went,” Snitker said. “It’s still gonna take a while and all that, and he’ll have to do all the treatments and stuff. But there weren’t any tears or anything like that, so that was really good.”
But oblique injuries are unpredictable. They can be tricky. This is Murphy’s first oblique injury.
“I think they’re always concerning, because you have to wait until they’re healed before you can do anything,” Snitker said. “You can’t keep picking at a scab and expect it to heal – you gotta let it heal. It’s a time-consuming thing. It’s one of them things you can’t rush. You just gotta do the day in, day out treatment and all that. And everybody’s different. Everybody heals different and things like that. But like I said, Murph is a big, strong guy.”
Triple-A Gwinnett initially had Tromp in its starting lineup Friday, but he was scratched after Murphy sustained an injury because the Braves needed him ready to join the team in Philadelphia on Saturday.
In the seventh inning of Friday’s season opener, Murphy felt pain and discomfort on a swing. He immediately grabbed his side. He exited the game right away.
“Talking to other guys who have (had oblique injuries), they’re like, ‘Yeah, I couldn’t walk,’” Murphy told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “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.”
D’Arnaud will be the starting catcher while Murphy is on the injured list, but Snitker said he also had faith in Tromp.
“He does a really good job,” Snitker said of Tromp on Friday evening. “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 dealt with hamstring tightness last summer, but never actually went on the injured list. This is his first injured list stint since the Braves traded for him before last season.
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