Sean Murphy Leads Braves Offense to Big Night Over Phillies in Return

The veteran All-Star catcher took no time at all, providing some desperately needed reinforcement to the Atlanta Braves lineup

Murphy made an immediate impact in his return to the Braves | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

ATLANTA - Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy instilled some spark into the Braves lineup during his regular-season debut en route to a 7-5 win against the Philadelphia Phillies.

In his first at-bat of the season, he belted a 1-0 pitch to left field to make it 3-1 Braves in the bottom of the second inning. 

Welcome back, MURPH!#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/wWCCAcTEmE

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) April 8, 2025

In the bottom of the sixth, he made it a one-run game, 5-4, with an RBI single. 

He finished the game going 2-for-4 with the aforementioned home run and four RBIs.

“It just seemed like the game gravitated toward him today,” Braves starting pitcher Chris Sale said. “Having a guy like that come back this year is key for us.”

Manager Brian Snitker thought everything about Murphy’s presence at the plate looked solid during his big return. 

“He had some really good at-bats,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His posture, his everything was looking good. It’s just good to get a veteran guy back.” 

The rest of the offense followed suit late in the game. Michael Harris II tied the game 5-5 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth, and Austin Riley drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the bottom of the seventh.

An insurance run came in the bottom of the eighth when Orlando Arcia scored on a wild pitch. 

With how his 2024 season went, there has to be some relief in starting 2025 off on the right foot. Murphy played in just 72 games last season and had a slash line of .193/.284/.352 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs. 

He missed two months at the beginning of the season with an oblique injury and never seemed to look right after he got back. 

In Spring Training, he also had a slow start before getting injured again. He went hitless in six at-bats before going down with a cracked rib caused by a hit by pitch. 

With rookie catcher Drake Baldwin in the show, the pressure was on, and he reminded everyone of his All-Star self in his return. 

The Braves improve to 2-8 on the season and have won two of their last three. They look to win their first series of the season when they play game two of their series with the Phillies on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.