The Atlanta Braves have the best catching tandem in all of baseball with Sean Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud behind the dish for the NL East leaders.
As if the Atlanta Braves could not improve upon their dynamic catching tandem from a season ago, they traded for Sean Murphy, despite already having an All-Star in Travis d'Arnaud in-house.
Murphy was the big offseason acquisition made by Atlanta. He came to the Braves in a three-team trade with the Oakland Athletics that sent William Contreras to the Milwaukee Brewers. The idea behind dealing for Murphy was to get better defensively behind the plate. While d'Arnaud can call a good game, his arm is not the strongest. Contreras was a liability defensively for Atlanta.
Fate would have it, the Braves won the Murphy trade almost instantaneously. He is having his best season as a big-leaguer with 12 home runs and 43 runs batted in over the course of 59 games, slashing .290/.388/.531 in his first season with Atlanta. Murphy is essentially guaranteed to make his first-ever trip to the Midsummer Classic as well this year. Atlanta has itself a new star.
And if that weren't enough, d'Arnaud continues to rake at the plate for the team. In four seasons in Atlanta, he has won a Silver Slugger, a World Series championship and been to an All-Star Game. Despite limited action this year, whether that being as a backup, or spending about a month on IL, he is slashing .284/.357/.483 with six home runs and 19 runs batted over the course of 32 games.
With both catchers boasting OPS' above 120, you can safely say Atlanta won the Murphy trade.
Atlanta Braves reap benefits of Sean Murphy trade by retaining Travis d'Arnaud
To be fair, pretty much every Braves offensive player who plays regularly boasts an OPS above 100. The lone exception is centerfielder Michael Harris II, and his OPS is a shade off that mark at 95. Keep in mind that last year's National League Rookie of the Year sustained a back injury in mid-April, which contributed to a lengthy stint on IL, followed up by a major slump. He is back now.
I don't know if the Braves are going to win the World Series in October, but they just might. This is one of the best lineups I have seen since the Cleveland squad the Braves beat in six to win it all back in 1995. Factor in how well this team can run and field its position, it is all going to come down to pitching for Atlanta this postseason. Any boost there will be one for the entire ball club.
And that right there is why guys like d'Arnaud and Murphy are even more valuable. It is not just Murphy's innate ability to throw runners out, or d'Arnaud's ability to call a great game. It is everything that they do on a regular basis to get the most out of the team's inconsistent bullpen and depleted starting rotation. The fact their big bats are doing the talking only adds to the team.
Once again, the Braves would be so beyond stupid to trade d'Arnaud at any point this summer.
