Braves Send Star Catcher Out on Rehab Assignment

The Atlanta Braves are getting very close to being back at full strength on the position player front

Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy has reported to the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers for the final action before his return to the active roster after injuring an oblique in the team's season opener. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Atlanta Braves are rather close to full strength on the position player side.

Injured third baseman Austin Riley, out of the lineup since May 12th after experiencing tightness in his side during a swing, took ground balls and participated in defensive drills between games of yesterday’s doubleheader and has done everything necessary to return but swing a bat. The hope is that he’s able to return by this weekend’s matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

He might be joined by another former All-Star: catcher Sean Murphy, out since suffering a strained oblique in the team’s season opener, has officially been sent out on a rehab assignment.   

Murphy will be joining the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers for their home series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, an affiliate of the Miami Marlins, beginning tonight in Gwinnett’s Coolray Field. Murphy will be the first Braves player to rehab with Gwinnett this season; it’s his first minor league action since 2019. 

Murphy’s played in 109 games with Atlanta, 108 of them coming last season when he was an All-Star. He’s batted .249 in a Braves uniform with 21 doubles and 21 home runs. 

He told reporters last week that he didn’t expect to need very long on his rehab assignment. The best possible timeline is to play three games from Tuesday through Thursday and then rejoin the team in Pittsburgh on Friday for the series opener against the Pirates, although it remains to be seen how aggressive the team will be with having Murphy play consecutive games while in Gwinnett. 

In Murphy’s absence, Braves catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Chadwick Tromp have combined to bat .260/.315/.467 with five homers and 23 RBIs in 44 games. The duo’s combined .782 OPS is second on the team, behind only the 1.047 for designated hitter Marcell Ozuna, the only player to be in the lineup at DH this season. 

In other transaction news, Atlanta officially completed the Ray Kerr transaction by selecting Daysbel Hernández to the active roster. The 27-year-old flamethrower was the designated 27th man for yesterday’s doubleheader, throwing a scoreless ninth inning in Atlanta’s game one loss to the San Diego Padres. 

Kerr, who threw a career-high 3.1 inning on Sunday night in relief of Bryce Elder after the sinkerballer was knocked out of the game in the 4th inning, could potentially be in line for a change in usage while in Gwinnett. Manager Brian Snitker speculated as much on Sunday night, saying that the team might stretch him out as a starter after being impressed with how he navigated the Padres lineup when he faced many of those hitters a second time.