Braves Not Going to Play Sean Murphy on Opening Day?
The Atlanta Braves are wrapping up spring training today with a game against the Boston Red Sox before heading North for the start of the regular season.
As the Braves take on the Sox this afternoon, we are getting a possible preview of what the Opening Day line-up might look like.
1) That seems like an extremely daunting line-up for pitchers to navigate. Olson has been tearing the cover off the ball this spring, hitting .432 with eight home runs and 18 RBI. Riley is an MVP candidate, coming off a season in which he hit 38 homers and drove in 93. Then there's Acuna, who is one of the top young players in the game, and is fully healthy after participating in the World Baseball Classic. He played in just 119 games this year and having him for a full 162 should help the Braves be even better than the team that won 101 games and the NL East a season ago.
2) The only thing that looks questionable in this line-up? Where is Sean Murphy? The former Oakland Athletics catcher was traded to Atlanta this offseason in a three-team deal for all-star William Contreras and top prospect Kyle Muller. After giving up that much, it's a bit surprising to see Murphy potentially not in the Opening Day staring nine.
The Braves obviously want to continue to give D'Arnoud reps but there has been a thought that one of them would catch and one of them would DH at times. Maybe that's the case, but it just might not be the case on Thursday against Washington.
Murphy ranked third among regular catchers last year in WAR and hit 18 homers with 66 RBIs.
Whether or not he starts on Thursday, he should be a big part of what the Braves do in a loaded NL East this season.
