| Louis Roxin. 21st August, 2008 - 4:05 pm
 In the last season of Shea Stadium’s existence and the first season of his major league career, Daniel Thomas Murphy has already had a sizable impact on the pennant race after the Mets summoned him from the minors on August 2nd.
Murphy is a 23-year-old native of Jacksonville, Florida, chosen by the Mets in the 13th round of the 2006 amateur draft. After hitting .308 with 13 homers and 67 RBI at Double-A Binghamton, Murphy was elevated to Triple-A New Orleans for one game before getting the call to join the Mets.
Murphy’s results at the big league level have been immediate and impressive. Hitting .404 with 2 homers, 11 RBI, 8 walks, and 7 strikeouts in 47 at-bats, Murphy has demonstrated veteran’s poise with an advanced instinct for the strikezone, an ability to go the other way and a propensity for delivering in the clutch. His contributions, along with the emergence of Mike Pelfrey and Argenis Reyes, have more than adequately filled in the blanks for a Mets’ club riddled by injuries. They have provided the Mets with the young pieces needed to shake slumps, right the ship, and eke out a lead in the National League East.
It’s a tiny major league sample, to be sure, but Mets’ fans have good reason to be thrilled by what they are seeing from Murphy. Displaying a slight crouch and open stance, Murphy has a left-handed swing which is sweet looking, compact, and adaptable to game situations and pitch counts. In a big game against the Marlins on August 9th at Shea, Murphy came up in a key spot against Renyel Pinto and saw a decent pitch away. Murphy waited back and put an inside-out swing on the ball, whacking a line-drive the other way. The ball carried just over the leftfield fence for a two-run homerun that would prove to be the difference in the win.
Murphy showed budding power in the minors. And his pretty stroke and sufficient physical frame could be indications that Murphy, like other prospects who develop their long-ball game at the major league level, will approach slugger status as his strength grows into his mid and late 20’s. Murphy’s swing is fairly level but appears to incorporate just enough of an uppercut to get the ball airborne and hit for distance.
At present, Murphy is being used to cover a hole in leftfield, and he primarily played third base before arriving in New York. But third base will be occupied by David Wright for a long time to come when the Mets’ new Citi Field home opens in 2009. The best move for the future of the Mets’ infield would be to convert Murphy to first or second base full time, where a Wright-Murphy, righty-lefty punch can complement the catalytic shortstop Jose Reyes. Murphy appears to have a better build for first base, but he throws righty which is not optimal for the position. At second, there could be concerns about his range.
The next, more revealing phase of the young baseball player’s life comes after pitchers and coaches deconstruct each tendency, and a fairly fixed book circulates on how to pitch him. After a stellar start, this second major league challenge will present itself to Murphy either in the final month of the 2008 campaign or next season. Given Murphy’s steady selectivity and stubborn refusal to give in or give away at-bats, you’ve got to like his chances at re-adjusting and continuing to find ways to get the better of opposing pitchers.
Daniel Murphy may turn out to be one of those guys whose disciplined approach makes him an overachiever at the major league level – a rare player, and even rarer New York prospect, whose productivity at the top outperforms even the lofty estimations of his talent.
Louis.Roxin@RealGM.com |
