With Sean Murphy sidelined with an oblique strain, the Braves third catcher will debut in 2024, far sooner than many had hoped.
The primary catcher Sean Murphy’s injury on Opening Day prompted the Atlanta Braves to make their equivalent move. The catcher Atlanta used when Murphy was out due to hamstring strain last season will be used again.
Chadwick Tromp returns to Atlanta
The 29 year-old Chadwick Tromp is heading to Atlanta, and will serve as Travis d’Arnaud’s backup while Murphy is on the mend. It’s officially a 10-day injured list stint, but with how touchy oblique’s can be the timetable will probably look closer to a month.
In May 2023, catcher Chadwick Tromp played in his final game for Atlanta. He made just 16 plate appearances and only managed two hits in the previous season. Tromp has a career slash line of.222/.225/.414 and five home runs in less than 100 at-bats.
Given that Murphy is one of baseball’s top three catchers, the Braves would certainly prefer not to lose him. But the Braves would be toward the top of the list if any team is prepared to handle this. Travis d’Arnaud, a seasoned catcher, is still capable of starting at full time for a large number of league teams.
At 35 years of age, d’Arnaud is coming off a 2023 where he slashed .225/.288/.397, had a 83 wRC+, and 0.9 fWAR in 74 games. This was really considered a down year for Travis, as in 2022 he produced a 4 fWAR season.
The most important thing is d’Arnaud’s trust with the pitching staff, which is really the primary focus with Murphy out. Any offense d’Arnaud and Tromp provides will be a bonus. Fans should expect d’Arnaud to get the brunt of the work, outside the occasional day game after a night game.
Unless the catchers are producing at an extremely low level, these two will most likely be asked to hold down the fort until Murphy is ready to return. We’ll update this page as we learn more about Murphy’s injury’s severity and when he may actually expect to return.
