2025 Fantasy Baseball: Sean Murphy Profile, Preview, Predictions
In this story:
Over the past two seasons, Sean Murphy posted an elite run to start 2023 while looking lost at the plate late last year. Is he a value or an avoid?
MURPH 💥
— Braves On FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSNBraves) June 8, 2024
Sean Murphy has his first home run of the season. pic.twitter.com/4hE9mjSsRM
C – Sean Murphy, ATL (ADP – 216.2)
Murphy’s bat made a dynamic splash over the first 232 at-bats (.306/42/17/55) with the Braves in 2023. He missed some time in June with a hamstring issue that didn’t require a trip on the injured list. Murphy gave back all of his gains over his final 138 at-bats (.159 with 23 runs, four home runs, and 13 RBIs), leading to many off days in September with no apparent injury.
One game into last season, Murphy landed on the injured list for two months with an oblique issue. His bat was out of sorts for the rest of the year, leading to no months with more than five runs, three home runs, or seven RBIs. He had a slight regression in his strikeout rate (25.4) while still having a favorable walk rate (10.2).
Murphy had a much weaker path, highlighted by a spike in his groundball rate (53.9 – 41.0% in 2023). His exit velocity (88.0) fell by 3.5 mph from 2023, along with regression in his hard-hit rate (36.5 – 45.1 in 2023).
Fantasy Outlook: Murphy should rebound this year after two neutral catcher seasons in 2022 (.250/67/18/66/1 over 537 at-bats) and 2023 (.251/65/21/68 over 370 at-bats). He plays in a high-scoring lineup with a weaker C2 option to compete for at-bats. On the downside, he’s missed time in three of the past four seasons. With 400 at-bats, a 55/15/15 season is well within reach, making Murphy an advantage to fantasy as a second catcher in 12-team Roto formats.
RANKINGS
Top 5 Catchers | Catchers 6-10 | Catchers 11-15
Top 5 First Basemen | First Basemen 6-10 | First Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Second Basemen | Second Basemen 6-10 | Second Basemen 11-15
Top 5 Shortstops | Shortstops 6-10 | Shortstops 11-15
Top 5 Third Basemen | Third Basemen 6-10 | Third Basemen 11-15
With 20+ years of experience in the high-stakes fantasy market, I aim to research and compete at the highest level in baseball and football each season. I've contributed as a writer/analyst for Sports Draft Daily, ScoutPro, Scout Fantasy, Fulltime Fantasy, FFToolbox, and Sports Illustrated Fantasy. I'm honored to be in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship Hall of Fame. My drafting philosophy is risk-averse yet open to betting on potential game-changers. I approach player selection with a neutral perspective, acknowledging that fantasy sports are inherently unpredictable due to injuries, performance dips, and managerial decisions. My work focuses on these main areas: - Season-long fantasy baseball and football - BestBall Baseball and Football Events - Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS): DraftKings, FanDuel, and Underdog - Long Shot Player Prop Parlays for NFL I participate in various leagues and contests, including NFBC, NFFC, RTSports, FFPC, DraftKings, Underdog Fantasy, FanDuel, and FFWC, with the goal of leveraging my extensive experience and research for success in each game format. A fantasy follower can expect in-depth profiles of NFL and MLB players, along with season-long and weekly projections for each fantasy football season. In addition, I have many strategy articles to help develop fantasy players' learning curves.
Follow Shawn__Childs