Sean Michael Murphy (born October 4, 1994) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Oakland Athletics. Murphy made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Athletics and won a Gold Glove Award in 2021.

Amateur career

Murphy attended Centerville High School in

Centerville, Ohio Centerville is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. A core suburb of Metro Dayton, its population was 24,240 as of the 2020 census. Geography Centerville is located at (39.638709, -84.148087). Although the city is located primari ...

, and Wright State University, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

for the

Wright State Raiders The Wright State Raiders are the athletics teams of Wright State University in Fairborn, Ohio. The school currently participates in ten sports at the Division I level of the NCAA and are members of the Horizon League. The school's mascot is a wo ...

. In 2015, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named a league all-star. He was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the third round of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be di ...

Professional career

Oakland Athletics

Murphy made his professional debut with the

Arizona League Athletics The Arizona Complex League Athletics are a Minor League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona, which plays as a Rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League and has served as a farm team for the Oakland Athletics organization since 1988. T ...

, playing one game with them, before being promoted to the

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont. From 1994 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL). They play their home games at Centennial Field, on ...

. He batted .237 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 22 games with Vermont. He started 2017 with the Stockton Ports and was promoted to the

Midland RockHounds The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, w ...

in June; he batted a combined .250 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs in 98 games between the two teams. In 2018, he spent the majority of the year with Midland, slashing .288/.358/.498 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs in 68 games. He also played in three games for the Nashville Sounds at the end of the year. He began 2019 with the

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada ...

where he hit the first home run in

Las Vegas Ballpark Las Vegas Ballpark is a baseball stadium in Summerlin South, Nevada, Summerlin South, Nevada in the Las Vegas Valley. It is the home field for the Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League. The stadium is owned by the Howard Hughes Corporati ...

history. On September 1, 2019, the Athletics selected Murphy's contract and promoted him to the major leagues. On September 4, in his MLB debut, Murphy hit his first career home run for his first hit against Jake Jewell. In 2020, Murphy played the majority of the season as the A's catcher, playing in 43 games. He hit .233 with 7 home runs and 14 RBI. Murphy was awarded the Gold Glove Award on November 7, 2021.

Atlanta Braves

On December 12, 2022, the Athletics traded Murphy to the

in a three-team trade, in which the Athletics acquired pitchers Kyle Muller and Freddy Tarnok, along with catcher Manny Piña and minor league pitcher Royber Salinas from the Braves and utility player

Esteury Ruiz Esteury Ruiz (born February 15, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the San Diego Padres and also played for the Milwaukee Brewers. C ...

from the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers also acquired Justin Yeager from the Braves. Murphy and the Braves signed a six-year contract extension worth $73 million and a club option for the 2029 season.

References

External links

Wright State Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Sean 1994 births Living people People from Peekskill, New York Baseball players from New York (state) Major League Baseball catchers Oakland Athletics players Gold Glove Award winners Wright State Raiders baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Arizona League Athletics players Vermont Lake Monsters players Stockton Ports players Midland RockHounds players Mesa Solar Sox players Nashville Sounds players Las Vegas Aviators players