Reinforcements will be joining the Braves on the upcoming road trip. Spencer Strider is slated to make his season debut on Sunday against the Rockies, and the very next day, Sean Murphy will rejoin the Braves in Seattle, according to Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Murphy got off to a super slow start with the stick during his rehab assignment. That’s to be expected given he’s been out of baseball since September of last year after undergoing hip surgery. However, he’s begun to heat up over the last week with the Gwinnett Stripers.

The future of Murphy in Atlanta is very much cloudy. When they acquired him from the A’s and immediately handed him a long-term extension, the thought is he would be a mainstay behind the plate for the foreseeable future.

Unfortunately, injuries have really plagued him over the last several seasons. Combine that with the emergence of Drake Baldwin, and his starting job at catcher is never returning.

That’s not to say the two can’t coincide in Atlanta. The Braves love the aspect of having two starting caliber players at such an important position, and Murphy has proven to be an invaluable asset behind the plate defensively.

There’s a real chance the Braves keep him for the duration of his contract, which runs through 2028 with a team option in 2029. However, if his offense starts to show signs of consistency, he also might be the Braves most valuable trade chip come the trade deadline.

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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)