Atlanta's Catcher Situation Is the Envy of Baseball
Atlanta’s present and future behind the plate are as strong as any team’s
Not a lot of things went right for the 2025 Atlanta Braves.
All five Opening Day starters spent time on the 60-day injured list. Three-fourths of the infield was being covered by backups and/or in-season acquisitions by the end of September. Atlanta’s once-dominant closer, Raisel Iglesias, had five blown saves and six losses after pitching to a first-half ERA of 4.42 with more homers allowed (seven) than all of 2024 (four).
But catcher? Despite a significant injury that will muddy the Opening Day availability for 2026, catcher was a bright spot for the Atlanta Braves.
Let’s talk about it.
A two-man time share
In a season where the Braves used a MLB-record 71 different players, only four catchers saw time behind the plate for Atlanta, with two of them getting the bulk of the action. It was a collective line of .237/.324/.475 with 32 homers and 104 RBI, but the distribution of those stats was very lopsided.
Drake Baldwin: 92G, .272/.342/.475 w/ 17 HR, 63 RBI
Sean Murphy: 72G, .203/.313/.414 w/ 14 HR, 38 RBI
Sandy León: 4G, 1-12 with a homer and 3 RBI
Chadwick Tromp: 2G, 0-5
That group was collectively worth 3.0 fWAR, tied for 11th in all of baseball.
Baldwin began the season as the starter after a spring training rib injury suffered by Murphy, with Tromp as the backup. After Murphy returned, Tromp was designated for assignment and later joined the Baltimore Orioles. The Murphy/Baldwin tandem continued for most of the season until Murphy’s hip labrum tear required surgery, at which point León came up from Triple-A Gwinnett to replace him.
Specialist: Sean Murphy ‘May Face a Slightly Higher Risk of Recurrence’ of Hip Injury
In some respects, knowing that Atlanta Braves catcher Sean Murphy needed hip surgery for a torn labrum was comforting because it provided an explanation for his late-season swoons the last few seasons.
What they did well
Braves catchers tied for the 2nd most home runs in all of baseball with the Athletics at 32. The Seattle Mariners, powered by MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, led baseball with 53 from the catcher spot in the lineup.1
Drake Baldwin was one of MLB’s best hitters with runners in scoring position, batting .319
Murphy was a top-eight catcher in Caught Stealing Above Average at +4
Murphy and Baldwin were both in the top six in Blocks Above Average at +8 and +7, respectively, with the corresponding rate stat2 having Murphy at #6 and Baldwin at #11.
What they struggled with
Many of Drake Baldwin’s defensive metrics were below-average, paced by his 19th percentile mark in Caught Stealing Above Average (-2) and 45th percentile Framing (-1).
Sean Murphy’s offense was, obviously, a problem, although we’re going to get to the caveats here in just a minute.
There’s a clear delineation here - Baldwin was the better hitter, outpacing Murphy by 69 points in average, while Murphy was the better defender. While I’m not the biggest believer in catcher ERA being a great way to measure a backstop’s ability to guide a pitching staff, it’s worth pointing out that Murphy’s 4.12 Catcher ERA and opposing batter 98 OPS+ is better than Baldwin’s 4.58 ERA and 103 OPS+.
Outlook for 2026
A lot of the 2026 outlook for Atlanta’s catchers depends on the return to health for Sean Murphy. The veteran’s been dealing with a hip issue for multiple seasons, one that finally culminated in a season-ending surgery in early September. You can see in the monthly splits how extended rest has Murphy playing at his best, but the cumulative wear-and-tear on the injured hip catches up to him late.
March/April: .250/.357/.633, 7HR, 14 RBI in 17 games
May-September: .186/.285/.351, 9 HR, 31 RBI in 77 games
But for now, let’s look at the catching situation on the assumption that Murphy’s back without restriction by Opening Day. This would give the Braves two starting-caliber catchers, a luxury in baseball. An ideal time share, pending offseason signings (like an outfielder or utility bat that needs time at designated hitter), probably has Murphy starting four games a week to Baldwin’s three, with Murphy getting one more game at DH a week and Baldwin getting likely two to three. In essence, Baldwin would become the primary option at designated hitter unless he was behind the plate that day, while Murphy would rotate in with other veterans who are getting a “half-day” like Ronald Acuña Jr. or Jurickson Profar.
For a total investment of about $16M, that’s not a bad deal. Because of the $15M salary to Murphy and his overall better defense/game calling, I still expect the Braves to utilize Murphy as the primary catcher and Baldwin as “1B”. This is obviously subject to the whims of the new manager3, however, and any sort of lag in Murphy’s bat or glove after the hip rehab means the team could easily shift their timeshare toward Baldwin.
Who is the third catcher?
I’m really curious to find out who the backup ends up being next year. León was outrighted to Gwinnett and elected free agency, although he re-signed a minor league deal per his MLB.com player page. Jason Delay, who was acquired after I asked the Braves to trade for him back in April, elected free agency after the season. He was replaced on the roster by former Los Angeles Dodgers backstop Chuckie Robinson.
At the same time, does this even matter? In the two situations where Atlanta needed to use a backup catcher that wasn’t Murphy or Baldwin, they mostly…didn’t. Murphy missed nine games to start the season after his oblique injury - rookie Baldwin started seven of those, while Chadwick Tromp got two starts. And after Murphy’s final start of the season on September 6th, Baldwin started sixteen of the final nineteen games while León got just three.
If Murphy or Baldwin misses a small amount of time next season, it’s likely the org rides the other a bit harder for the three weeks or a month that the other is out. Only in the case of a longer-term absence will the backup catcher actually matter, I think, as very few catchers can start 80% of a team’s games and still be effective by the end of the season.
Let’s hope, after several seasons of injuries behind the plate, that it doesn’t come to that.
Of Raleigh’s MLB-leading 60 homers, 49 came as a catcher and 11 as a designated hitter. The other four catcher homers for Seattle came from backup Mitch Garver.
Blocks Above Average / Game
Anyone have an idea of what George Lombard thinks about rotating your catchers? Really curious to find this out.
Will be interesting to see how a catcher combo covers DH if that’s what Braves use next season. Braves are in good shape behind the plate. Just for kicks, 2025 rankings (fWAR / wRC+ / age). Langeliers - 3.9 / 132 / 27; Contrares - 3.6 / 124 / 27); Baldwin - 3.1 / 125 / 24; Murphy - 2.0 / 97 / 31. A lot of quality catchers in the organization in the last few years.
Lindsay, it was good to see you on YouTube. You looked great great and hope all went well with your heart surgery.