Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is one of the most exciting players in all of baseball. He possesses limitless power and nearly won the AL MVP back in 2021 after hitting 48 homers to go along with an OPS over 1.000. The superstar first baseman was recently asked to put together a dream infield to play with of current players that are not on his team, and his answer featured an Atlanta Brave, although, perhaps not the one you might expect.
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- 2B – José Altuve
- SS – Fernando Tatis Jr.
- 3B – Manny Machado
- C – Sean Murphy
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To this point, the acquisition of Sean Murphy could not be going better. William Contreras was an All-Star for the Braves a year ago, but Murphy has proven to be the best catcher in baseball right now, so it’s nice to see players–even from outside the National League–recognize the impact he’s having in Atlanta.
Sean Murphy is the best defensive catcher in the game, but most people were already aware of that before he joined the Braves. What’s improved considerably in Atlanta has been his offense. Murphy already has 12 homers in just 57 games, which is six shy of his career-high. He’s also on his way to setting career-highs in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and wRC+.
It’s evident that playing with better players around him in the lineup and in a more hitter-friendly ballpark is paying huge dividends, not just for himself, but for the Braves as well. One could argue Murphy has been the best offseason acquisition of any player this season.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire
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