Braves' Brian Snitker Fires 5 Words on Drake Baldwin Replacing Sean Murphy

Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker gave a simple reply when asked if top prospect Drake Baldwin is ready to replace injured starting catcher Sean Murphy.

Atlanta Braves designated hitter Drake Baldwin / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves have high hopes the 2025 season will feature a lot fewer injuries than last year. It's not off to the best start.

The Athletic's David O'Brien reported on March 3 catcher Sean Murphy suffered a cracked rib while hit by a pitch on the final day of February. With the rib injury, Murphy is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Top prospect Drake Baldwin is next most-talented catcher in the Braves organization. The question is, will he be ready for an everyday MLB role to start the 2025 campaign.

Braves manager Brian Snitker implied he and the organization may not have a choice.

"He might have to be," Snitker said in response to a question asking if Baldwin is ready, via The AJC's Gabriel Burns.

Snitker has expressed more confidence in Baldwin in other answers throughout the spring.

"You've seen that maturity, every spring he's gotten a little better," Snitker said while further on March 3. "He keeps improving his game. He got a little notoriety in the Futures Game, playing with the USA team, which all will serve him well going forward.

"He's an impressive young man."

The Spring Training stats suggest Baldwin could be ready. He is 4-for-12 with a double and three walks in six games.

But it's a very small sample, so it's hard to have a definitive conclusion.

It's possible the Braves will need solid contributions from Baldwin for more than just the next six weeks. Murphy experienced a similar early-season ailment in 2024. He strained his oblique on Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies and missed two months.

When Murphy returned, he was a shell of his former self. Many pundits expected Murphy to bounce back in 2025, but that seems a lot less likely now if he misses the beginning of the season again.

Last year, the Braves had veteran catcher Travis d'Arnaud. But Atlanta elected to not pick up d'Arnaud team option this offseason seemingly in an effort to save money. That money was not re-invested behind the plate for this summer.

Chadwick Tromp was poised to enter this season as the team's backup catcher to Murphy.

If Baldwin begins the regular season in the MLB, he will likely play in front of Tromp. It doesn't make sense for the team's top prospect to sit the bench because that will only stunt his development. Tromp also has far less upside than Baldwin.

In November, it made some sense for the Braves not to bring back d'Arnaud. They didn't want the veteran blocking Baldwin if he became ready for regular MLB at-bats.

But now without Murphy or d'Arnaud, the Braves have little choice but to hope Baldwin will be ready.

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