At around 2 p.m. Monday, Oakland general manager David Forst called Sean Murphy to alert the catcher that the Athletics had traded him to the Braves. Soon after, the news broke on social media, beginning the whirlwind couple of days for one of baseball’s better catchers.
“My phone’s been blowing up,” Murphy said on a Zoom call Wednesday morning.
Matt Olson, Murphy’s former teammate in Oakland, reached out right away to welcome Murphy to Atlanta. So did Travis d’Arnaud, the catcher Murphy presumably will supplant as the Braves’ starter. Murphy also has talked with president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos, manager Brian Snitker and catching coach Sal Fasano since the trade.
Specifically, Murphy discussed game-planning and preparation with Anthopoulos and Fasano. The Braves put a huge emphasis on the catcher position because of its all-encompassing nature. Their catchers’ involvement stretches far beyond nine innings behind the plate.
This is one reason Anthopoulos acquired Murphy, a Gold Glove catcher. The 28-year-old is one of baseball’s elite catching talents, someone who is as sound fundamentally as they come. He possesses some power and certainly strengthens the Braves’ lineup, but his defensive prowess should help steer the team where it wants to go.
Murphy loves the game-planning part of his job.
“That’s the fun part of the game; that’s the chess match,” he said. “When you put together a game plan and it works, it’s a really good feeling. And then when you put one together and it doesn’t, it’s not so good. But the challenge of it is coming together with the staff, putting together something you think is going to work and winning the games (using it).”
Murphy, who grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and now lives in Nashville, Tenn., has worked with Kyle Wright, another Braves pitcher who lives in Nashville, this offseason. Murphy doesn’t yet know any other Braves pitchers, but is excited to meet them and work with them.
In addition to Wright, who had a breakout season in 2022, the Braves boast Max Fried, now viewed by many as one of baseball’s true aces. Spencer Strider might be the game’s top young pitcher, and his numbers from his rookie season made him one of the sport’s top arms. Veteran Charlie Morton also is part of the rotation. The Braves also feature a deep bullpen with multiple talented pitchers.
“They’re very good. They’re really, really good,” Murphy said of the Braves’ pitchers. “I think everybody knows that. The depth is great. Great starting. The bullpen was so, so good. No real weak spots in it.
“I mean, all these guys go out there and they pitch and they put up innings, and I’m really excited to work with them.”
It seems like Murphy has started to prepare. He’ll introduce himself to the pitchers. Leading into spring training, he’ll familiarize himself with them and use the time effectively before reporting to North Port, Fla.
“Trying to just figure out how they think and how they like to sequence their pitches,” he said. “When you’re out there, you want to minimize the shakes and keep them in their rhythm. That’s the hardest part, is figuring out the rhythms that they like to work in and how they like to tunnel their pitches and work their stuff. So these are conversations that are going to happen throughout spring training.”
Murphy is a special kind of catcher, one who impacts the game batting and behind the plate. All-around catchers are difficult to find.
His defense is his calling card. He excels at framing, blocking and more. But he also homered 18 times and drove in 66 runs in an Oakland lineup in which he had little protection in 2022.
His priorities are clear. That doesn’t mean he can’t provide some offense, though.
“Our goal behind the plate is to win games and get our pitchers through those games in whatever fashion,” Murphy said. “Any time you catch a win in the big leagues, it’s a good day. Hitting comes secondary. If you can help with the bat, great. But getting the defense and getting the pitchers through those nine innings is what’s important.”
A year ago, the Braves had d’Arnaud, William Contreras and Manny Piña. They also had a promising prospect in Shea Langeliers.
Three of those players are gone. As it turned out, the Braves traded Langeliers to Oakland to acquire Olson. The deal further signaled Oakland’s intentions to rebuild instead of beefing up its payroll. Langeliers eventually debuted for the Athletics.
This offseason, rumors swirled that Murphy could be traded.
“Those things happen,” Murphy said. “You want to speculate, but you never know what anything means. When Shea came up and played as well as he did, I knew that the odds increased that I might be moved. But you don’t really want to think about those things during the season.”
Murphy enjoyed his time in Oakland. From 2019-21, he played on talented teams that had World Series aspirations. It became a sad situation after those seasons. “That’s just the cycle of what happens in Oakland,” Murphy said. “So it wasn’t necessarily a surprise.”
The Athletics knew they would not pay their homegrown players, so they traded them. Murphy is the latest to go.
Now he’s in Atlanta, where the Braves won a World Series in 2021 before winning 101 games in 2022.
“Looking to win some more this year,” said Murphy, who dreams of winning a World Series one day.
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