{"id":55324,"date":"2025-05-15T08:50:20","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T08:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=55324"},"modified":"2025-05-15T08:50:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T08:50:20","slug":"braves-news-braves-brian-snitker-just-added-fuel-to-the-sean-murphy-playing-time-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=55324","title":{"rendered":"BRAVES NEWS: Braves&#8217; Brian Snitker just added fuel to the Sean Murphy playing time debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_764,y_0,w_4301,h_2419\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/17\/01jv7bhvahxq5m9270r5.jpg\" alt=\"Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>When Atlanta Braves catcher\u00a0Sean Murphy returned from the IL\u00a0and immediately started mashing, it\u00a0seemed like the Braves&#8217; catcher debate was over\u00a0for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>Atlanta still liked Drake Baldwin a lot, but saw that he needed more seasoning and with Murphy hot, Baldwin had the luxury of being able to get up to speed as their backup. However, the tides have turned recently and manager Brian Snitker has clearly noticed.<\/p>\n<p>After his torrid stretch after\u00a0coming back from a broken rib, Murphy has cooled off considerably at the plate.<\/p>\n<p>In the month of May so far, Murphy has just a .194\/.286\/.258 with zero homers and 11 strikeouts in 35 plate appearances.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile,\u00a0Baldwin has been one of the Braves&#8217; best hitters\u00a0this month and Atlanta&#8217;s offense honestly seems lost without him in the lineup.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Snitker seems to agree with that last assessment. After yet another big game from Baldwin against the Nationals on Tuesday and him starting in back-to-back games behind the plate, the Braves manager indicated that Baldwin would start again on Thursday it what appears to be a pretty significant playing time shift at catcher.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"min-h-[550px]\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1922480735706874137&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fhousethathankbuilt.com%2Fbraves-brian-snitker-just-added-fuel-to-sean-murphy-playing-time-debate&amp;sessionId=3820c63bb159cb6d8aece3500485b732f4d8a332&amp;siteScreenName=HouseHankBuilt&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\" data-tweet-id=\"1922480735706874137\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Baldwin will catch again Thursday, Snitker said, which would be the\u00a0#Braves\u00a0rookie&#8217;s third game caught in five. Snitker said he&#8217;ll juggle the catchers from series to series, based on matchups, who&#8217;s hot, etc.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David O&#8217;Brien (@DOBrienATL) May 14, 2025<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">It sure looks like Drake Baldwin is the Braves&#8217; primary catcher for now over Sean Murphy<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Snitker can say that he is going to go game to game and match-up to match-up with his catching platoon, but it is abundantly clear that he is preferring Baldwin in the lineup right now and with good reason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">The Braves&#8217; rookie is slashing .556\/.556\/1.000 in a small 18 plate appearance sample this month and that was after posting a .945 OPS in April.\u00a0Baldwin just flat out hits\u00a0and while Murphy has had some big moment, the consistency at the plate just hasn&#8217;t been there.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">There are going to be moments where Baldwin is going frustrate fans. He is still learning how to call games and his pitchers&#8217; tendencies and it may be better to play Murphy against tough lefties while Baldwin gets his feet under him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">However, the numbers don&#8217;t lie and for the moment, Atlanta has a better lineup when Baldwin is in it.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Will this change stick? That is hard to say as Snitker is a believer in playing the hot hand and we have seen him have two quality catchers behind the plate during the season and get a lot out of both of them before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">However things turn out, it is very clear that Baldwin is the Braves&#8217; guy right now and it is a position he may not relinquish.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Atlanta Braves catcher\u00a0Sean Murphy returned from the IL\u00a0and immediately started mashing, it\u00a0seemed like the Braves&#8217; catcher debate was over\u00a0for the time being. Atlanta still liked Drake&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":55326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BRAVES NEWS: Braves&#039; Brian Snitker just added fuel to the Sean Murphy playing time debate - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=55324\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BRAVES NEWS: Braves&#039; Brian Snitker just added fuel to the Sean Murphy playing time debate - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Atlanta Braves catcher\u00a0Sean Murphy returned from the IL\u00a0and immediately started mashing, it\u00a0seemed like the Braves&#8217; catcher debate was over\u00a0for the time being. 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