The Braves put Sean Murphy on the 10-day injured list Tuesday after he fractured his left middle finger on Sunday, and the club signed veteran catcher Sandy León to take his place. Walt Weiss said Murphy is expected to be out at least two months, with the recovery likely stretching to about eight weeks or longer once he is healthy enough to start getting back into baseball shape.
Murphy’s latest setback comes after he returned May 4 from offseason hip surgery, played in just four games and went 1-for-14 with six strikeouts before the finger injury forced him back onto the shelf. The 31-year-old catcher had already missed all of spring training and the first month of the season, and Weiss said the challenge now is not just healing the broken bone but rebuilding timing, feel and endurance after another long interruption.
The injury happened when Dodgers second baseman Hyeseong Kim swung and hit Murphy’s glove. For Atlanta, it is another turn in a season that has already required constant adjustment behind the plate. The Braves designated Jonah Heim for assignment on May 4 before acquiring cash considerations from the Athletics, and Heim went 9-for-39 with eight RBIs and five walks in 12 games with the team.
León gives the Braves a familiar emergency option, even if the recent numbers are thin. The 37-year-old played in 10 games for Triple-A Gwinnett through mid-April and hit.118 in 34 at-bats before heading to Mexico to play for Saraperos de Saltillo, where he hit.143 in 10 games. He has played for seven MLB teams since 2012 and was 1-for-12 last season, but Atlanta needed a catcher it already trusted to absorb innings immediately.
The Braves also added José Azócar to the major league roster Tuesday, another sign that the club is still sorting out the edges of its depth chart. Azócar had appeared in two games before being designated for assignment on May 6. The bigger concern remains Murphy, whose value has been tied not only to his bat but to the kind of defensive work Weiss praised as the kind that can slow down a rough inning and steady a pitcher in trouble.
Weiss said Murphy has been through a lot in recent seasons and stressed how hard it is to hit stride when injuries keep interrupting the rhythm of everyday play. That is the immediate answer to where Atlanta goes next: León covers the roster spot, but Murphy’s return now depends on a long recovery, then the harder task of regaining form after yet another stop-start stretch. For more on the roster move, see Sean Murphy lands on injured list as Braves turn back to Sandy León.
