Perhaps one of the most underrated moves of the offseason was the Atlanta Braves trading with the Oakland Athletics for catcher Sean Murphy.
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The 28-year-old catcher is off to a torrid start through the first 30 games of the season, entering Sunday’s game against the Orioles leading the National League with a 1.067 OPS.
His offensive numbers, combined with his skills defensively as a catcher, have made him an early candidate as team MVP on a roster stacked with All-Star talent.
“I think the way he works with the staff, his framing ability of pitches is also a big deal — I don’t know if that gets talked about enough,” Braves insider Grant McCauley told Chris Thomas on 92.9. The Game on Saturday. “Then, of course the arm. We all see that as one of the premier weapons you can have as a catcher and he has that in spades.
“Offensively, I always felt like there was that next level for him…get him into a better ballpark than Oakland Coliseum and what he can be and he’s. show you, not just at home but on the road, this is a guy who can mash. …I can’t sit her and take too many hits on a guy whose among the National League leaders in RBIs, Wins Above Replacement — the guy who is really making a case for the MVP of the club if you had to pick somebody not named Ronald Acuna Jr.”
In addition to leading the NL in OPS and slugging percentage, Murphy entered Sunday as the Braves team leader in RBI (28) and tied with Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies with nine home runs. His eight doubles are second-best on the team, as is his 21 walks and .433 on-base percentage.
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