Former Guardians catcher resurfaces with Braves amid wild Sean Murphy injury saga

Sandy León played in 33 games for the Guardians across the 2020 and ‘22 seasons as the team worked to restructure their catching unit. While he was widely regarded as a great clubhouse presence, his play on the field left a lot to be desired. 

And now he’s somehow back in MLB thanks to yet another injury to Sean Murphy. On Tuesday the Braves signed León to a big league contract after they placed Murphy on the injured list due to a fractured left middle finger. Murphy suffered the injury on Sunday when he was hit on the glove by a swing from Hyeseong Kim. 

Murphy missed the first month-and-a-half of the season with a hip injury but was activated from the injured list at the start of May. The Braves DFA’d (and subsequently traded) backup catcher Jonah Heim as the move to free up space for Murphy. 

The Guardians were backed into a corner after Heim was claimed by the A’s, which led to them reuniting with León, who had been in Triple-A with the Braves but was released to pursue an opportunity in the Mexican league at the end of April. He played in five big league games with the Braves last season. 

The most action León’s seen in a single season came in 2018 when he played in 89 games with the World Series champion Red Sox. He finished that season with a .177 batting average, which isn’t far off from the .207 mark he’s recorded across 559 career games. 

He hit .136 in 21 games for the Guardians in 2020 before appearing in eight games with the club in 2022. 

León won’t see a ton of action behind the plate for the Braves right now thanks to Drake Baldwin serving as the team’s starting catcher, but all it takes is one injury. 

While Murphy is set to be out for eight weeks, there’s a chance León could have a short stint on Atlanta’s roster if the Braves choose to find an external upgrade. 

Enter Guardians catcher Bo Naylor. 

The Braves just became a great Bo Naylor landing spot thanks to Sean Murphy’s injury

While Naylor’s had some spurts of success during his time with the Guardians, he’s in the midst of a disastrous season that’s dropped his career batting average to .199. 

Not only did the Guardians demote Naylor to the minors after they acquired Patrick Bailey over the weekend, but they’re sending him to their complex in Arizona before he goes to Triple-A Columbus. 

The Guardians have a clear investment in wanting Naylor to succeed, but it’s hard to believe they haven’t been kicking the tires on his trade value (especially since top prospect Cooper Ingle is waiting in Triple-A). 

Atlanta would be a great landing spot for Naylor since he wouldn’t need to play everyday thanks to Baldwin. Or, at very least, the Braves could send him down to Triple-A to get more reps in before inevitably calling him up when León’s struggles get too much to ignore. 

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