Sean Murphy

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Sean Michael Murphy

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Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Sean Murphy made his major league debut with the Oakland Athletics on September 4, 2019. In that game he caught a shutout in a 4-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels, and also hit his first homer, off Jake Jewell. He hit .245 in 20 games that first season with 4 homers and 8 RBIs and had one at-bat in the Wild Card Game which Oakland lost to the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2020, he became the A's starting catcher during the pandemic-shortened season, appearing in 43 of 60 games for the team and hitting .233 with 7 homers and 14 RBIs. In the postseason, he started all seven games played by Oakland and homered once in the Wild Card Series against the Chicago White Sox and once more in the Division Series against the Houston Astros. After the season, he was named the catcher on the 2020 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

On June 20, 2021, he hit into a game-ending triple play facing Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees in the 9th inning; the Yankees won the game, 2-1. It was the first game-ending triple killing since 2009. He emerged as one of the top catchers in the American League that season as he played 119 games, hitting .216 with 17 homer and 59 RBIs while playing some outstanding defence which earned him a Gold Glove.

On June 27, 2022, he was charged with catcher's interference twice in one inning, allowing both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton to reach base in the 7th. It was a nightmarish inning as the Yankees erased a 5-3 deficit, scoring 7 runs thanks to a walk, a hit batsman, two doubles and a single, in addition to the two errors charged to Murphy. Three pitchers were needed to get through the frame, including A.J. Puk who failed to retire anyone. The Yankees won the game, 9-5. It was a tough year for Oakland, who got rid of a number of veterans in return for youngsters before the season, and continued shedding talent as the year advance. Sean was one of the most productive players left, hitting .250 in 148 games with 18 homers and 66 RBIs. His OPS+ of 120 was excellent for a catcher, especially one with strong defensive skills, which meant that the A's were constantly getting calls from other teams wondering if he was available in a trade. When the Athletics finally agreed to move him following the season on December 12th, it landed them no fewer than five players in return, in a three-team deal. Murphy was sent to the Atlanta Braves, while the A's obtained one experienced major league backstop from the Milwaukee Brewers in Manny Pina, and four other players all ranked with the top 20 prospects of either the Braves or the Brewers. William Contreras also moved from Atlanta to Milwaukee in the deal, which resulted in Sean sharing catching duties with Travis d'Arnaud. He was likely to get most of the starts behind the plate, as d'Arnaud, while a good hitter, was a much weaker defensive catcher than him.

The Braves quickly got around to signing their new catcher for the long term, agreeing with him on a six-year deal worth $73 million on December 27th. He had a great first half in 2023, being elected as a starter at the 2023 All-Star Game and also hitting a record home run on July 7th, the 167th hit by a Braves player that season. That was the most by any team in major league history before the All-Star break, as the team was on pace to break the all-time record of 307 in a season set by the 2019 Minnesota Twins. Murphy's 16th homer of the year was one of only just two hits by the Braves against the Tampa Bay Rays, but it came with a man on and was enough to give Atlanta a 2-1 victory against the team with the best record in the AL at that point (the Braves had the best record in the National League).

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mark Bowman: "Backstop swap: Murphy to ATL, Contreras to Crew in 3-way deal", mlb.com, December 12, 2022. [1]
  • Martin Gallegos: "A's Murphy has memorable big league debut", mlb.com, September 5, 2019. [2]
  • Thomas Harrigan: "Acuña isn't the Braves' only top MVP candidate", mlb.com, May 12, 2023. [3]
  • Paul Newberry (Associated Press): "Braves sign new C Sean Murphy to a $73 million, 6-year deal", Yahoo! News, December 27, 2022. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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