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Ronald Acuña Jr. is dealing with right knee soreness following a pair of contests in Los Angeles to open the best-of-five series, which is why he’s been moved to DH with Murphy coming out of the lineup. It’ll be Lane Thomas heading out to patrol right field in his place. It doesn’t appear to be a significant concern, but the Braves can’t really afford to take any chances with one of their key lineup cogs.

Murphy broke up a no-hit bid by Eury Pérez in the top of the sixth inning when he singled on a first-pitch sinker that caught too much of the plate. It was the lone hit of the game for the Braves, who never had a runner get into scoring position in the 3-0 defeat.

Murphy broke a scoreless tie by swatting a three-run homer in the sixth inning, and he later added another RBI. The veteran catcher has been sidelined for much of the season due to a broken finger, but he has now started seven of Atlanta’s past 10 contests. Drake Baldwin’s status as an everyday player caps Murphy’s upside, but Baldwin has been shifting to DH when Murphy is in the lineup.

Drake Baldwin will slide to designated hitter. Murphy has gone 13-for-58 in his 17 games this season with two home runs, four RBI, and a 22/3 K/BB ratio.

Murphy’s homer came off Colorado starter Mason Adams, giving Atlanta a 1-0 lead in the third inning. It was only his 16th game of the season, as he’s been on the IL twice. However, he was starting for the fifth time in seven games, with Drake Baldwin serving as the team’s DH in those contests. Baldwin is a true everyday player for Atlanta, so Murphy’s playing time is capped. He could still have value in two-catcher fantasy leagues if the team keeps giving Baldwin starts at DH.

The Braves have been using Murphy pretty often lately even without him hitting at all, but maybe his bat is starting to wake up. He entered tonight 6-for-44 with a 17/1 K/BB in a 2026 season that saw him get off to a late start after hip surgery and then suffer a fractured finger after returning in May.

Murphy returns to Atlanta’s catching rotation behind starter Drake Baldwin for his first game action since mid-May. The 31-year-old wound up missing nearly three months with a fractured left middle finger.

Murphy also caught all nine innings, which makes it back-to-back days that he’s done that. He also picked up his third straight multi-hit game and has a .438 batting average on his rehab assignment. He seems ready to return.

Perhaps more importantly, Murphy also caught all nine innings behind the plate as well. The veteran has played in just four games this season due to injury and hasn’t hit over .200 in an MLB season since 2023, as injuries have crushed his performance. Still, there is an aggressive market for catchers right now, so perhaps the Braves could flip Murphy to a team looking for a backup catcher at the deadline.

Murphy was placed on the injured list on May 12 and expected to miss eight weeks at the time. It’s taken a little longer to heal than expected, but Murphy is likely in line to be activated next week if his rehab assignment is setback-free. With Drake Baldwin demanding a spot in the lineup now, Murphy won’t be returning as an everyday catcher.

Murphy hit the injured list prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Cubs with a fractured left middle finger. The 31-year-old, who missed nearly six weeks to open the year recovering from offseason hip surgery, will likely be sidelined until after the All-Star break in mid-July. It’ll be journeyman Sandy León taking his roster spot as Drake Baldwin’s primary caddy during his absence.

Murphy lasted just six days on the active roster before getting hurt on a catcher’s interference during Sunday’s game. Sandy Léon will place him as Drake Baldwin’s backup, but the bigger beneficiary here is Dominic Smith, who will resume seeing more time at DH against righties with Murphy absent.

Walt Weiss said he was optimistic it wouldn’t prove to be a significant injury. The Braves traded Jonah Heim when Murphy came off the injured list, so Chadwick Tromp would seem to be their third catcher once again.

Murphy returns to Atlanta’s catching mix after missing nearly six weeks at the start of the year recovering from hip surgery. He’ll likely wind up catching more than originally anticipated entering the season since the Braves want to keep Drake Baldwin at DH as much as possible. Still, Murphy can be ignored in shallow fantasy leagues at this stage of his career.

Atlanta probably wouldn’t mind if Murphy took his time with the way Drake Baldwin has been tearing the cover off the ball this season. The 31-year-old backstop is expected to catch Spencer Strider’s rehab start on Thursday but figures to return to Atlanta shortly afterwards. He’s been out recovering from last year’s hip surgery since the end of spring training.

The specific plan calls for Murphy to catch four innings on Tuesday, five innings on Thursday, then catch again on Saturday, and DH on Sunday. All of that makes it sound like we could be getting Sean Murphy back on the Atlanta roster sooner rather than later.

Murphy had been scheduled to begin that assignment on Friday, but he’ll be away for the weekend to tend to a family matter. It’s going to take Murphy at least a couple of week’s worth of at-bats to get back into the swing of things before he’ll be an option to help out at the Major League level.

Weiss referred to this as “spring training” for Murphy, so don’t expect it to be a short rehab assignment. The goal is to get him “a couple dozen at-bats,” which could mean double-digit games, and he also will not play in back-to-back games from the start. That means it could be late May before we see Murphy back with the Braves. That will cut into Drake Baldwin’s playing time a little bit, but Murphy should be the clear backup at this point.

That according to Atlanta manager Walt Weiss. Murphy is still working his way back from hip surgery, but it’s encouraging that he’s resumed activities, and Weiss suggested that it’s possible he could begin a rehab assignment soon. It wouldn’t be a surprise if Murphy is back with Atlanta by the beginning of May.

Murphy will require a trip to the injured list at the start of the season while he continues working his way back from last year’s hip surgery. The 31-year-old backstop’s absence leads to Drake Baldwin, who posted a near-75 percent hard hit rate during spring training, shouldering an even larger share of the catching duties for Atlanta.