The Braves kept Sean Murphy out of the starting lineup again Sunday, with the team announcing a lineup for the series finale in New York that put Drake Baldwin behind the plate and left Murphy on the bench as Atlanta tried to avoid a three-game sweep.
That decision landed on a day when every lineup choice carried extra weight. The Braves had dropped Saturday’s game 5-4, and Murphy was not in that lineup either, so Sunday’s card showed a clear pattern as they entered the final game of the series with the Yankees.
Murphy, 31, is in the middle of his fourth season with the Braves, and the early numbers have not helped his case. He was batting.091 with two hits and one run in six games this season, a line far removed from the one that got him to the MLB All-Star Game with Atlanta in 2023.
The structure of Sunday’s lineup left little room for doubt. Drake Baldwin was listed as the catcher, Dominic Smith was listed as the designated hitter, and the rest of the order followed around them, with FantasyPros posting the batting order as a snapshot of how Atlanta planned to attack the final game. That setup suggests the Braves wanted Baldwin’s bat in the game while keeping Murphy out for another day, whether for rest, timing or something else the club did not spell out.
Some of the reaction around the team has already turned to whether Murphy should be given a longer run to rediscover his swing. One post said the Braves should let Murphy get several games in a row and keep Baldwin at designated hitter, while another said Murphy needs to play to get his timing back. A separate comment favored pairing Baldwin with Grant Holmes, pointing back to what they produced together in a previous start. Those are fan opinions, not the club’s explanation, but they reflect the same question the lineup raised: if Murphy is healthy enough to be available, why keep him out again?
For now, the answer is on the card and not in a quote. The Braves chose Baldwin for Sunday, Murphy stayed out of the starting nine, and Atlanta went into the series finale still trying to keep New York from finishing off the sweep.
