A's Catcher Sean Murphy Will Miss Time After Surgery on Collapsed Lung

Oakland Athletics catcher Sean Murphy will miss "several weeks" after undergoing surgery for a collapsed lung. The 26-year-old is expected to be ready by Opening Day on April 1.

"I don't think he liked the idea of just sort of being out there in the world not knowing if this was going to happen again, so he got the surgery done, took care of it and it's only going to set him back a few weeks," A's general manager David Forst told reporters Wednesday. "It's one of those things that popped up. We're glad he got it taken care of, got the surgery done."

The team isn't exactly sure how Murphy sustained the injury but believes it may have occurred during a coughing fit while the catcher was sleeping. Murphy woke up with the issue a few weeks ago and went to the emergency room because he didn't feel right.

The New York native is expected to join the team at spring training in the coming days after pitchers and catchers for all clubs were scheduled to report Wednesday.

"The prognosis as we sit here sounds good," manager Bob Melvin said. "Our training staff believes we'll get him here in time in spring at some point, obviously a little bit delayed, but the timetable is for him to be ready for Opening Day. It sounds pretty dramatic and it certainly did to me as well, but they think the procedure went well and the prognosis is good."

Murphy was one of the constants in Oakland's lineup last year as the A's made a run to the American League West title before they fell to the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series.

He slashed .233/.364/.457 in 43 games with seven home runs and 14 RBI.

Oakland enters camp with Aramis Garcia and Austin Allen lined up behind Murphy at catcher on the 40-man roster depth chart. Those two will now get a bigger opportunity to prove themselves as the regular season nears.