| By Ethan Recently, the New York Mets called up a young player from their farm system by the name of Daniel Murphy. Murphy was a guy who hit well in AA posting averages of .308/.374/.496 with 13 homers, 67 RBIs, 26 doubles, and 56 runs scored. However, nobody could have anticipated the smoking start that his big league career has gotten off to. Since being called up, all he's done is hit 467, with OBP/SLG averages of 556/800. In 30 ABs, he has 2 homers, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 8 RBIs, and 7 runs scored. Now, of course, 30 ABs is nothing in the grand scheme of a major league career, and there have been players before him who have gotten off to huge starts and never quite panned out over the long haul. Such names as Bo Hart and Shane Spencer come to mind. However, there are several things about Murphy that lead this writer to think that he could be for real. First, he has shown remarkable plate discipline, rarely swinging at pitches out of the stike zone. This is quite a rare trait for someone with as little MLB experience as Murphy. Second, both of his homers have been opposite field shots. This is very significant because as a lefty hitter, if he only pulled the ball, other teams would be able to shift him around towards right field which would take away many of his base hits, as it does to such players as Carlos Delgado, David Ortiz, and Jim Thome. Perhaps most impressive though is that he has shown the ability to perform in the clutch. He is batting .571 with runners on base, .800 with runners in scoring position, and .333 in close and late situations. Not all players can perform well in these spots, but it looks like Murphy can. Time will tell if Murphy can develop into a major league star, but right now, it appears as if Daniel Murphy is a name that sports fans will be hearing for a long time, and with Jose Reyes and David Wright already established as superstars, and dynamite prospects Fernando Martinez, pitcher Jon Niese, and the 17-year-old phenom Wilmer Flores on the way, the future at Citi Field looks very bright indeed. |
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Daniel Murphy: Rising Star or Flash in the Pan?
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2 comments:
Jay Bruce. Ian Kennedy. Joba Chamberlain.
Once in a while, though uncommon, we see a rookie or a new face pop up and play well immedaitely, whatever he may be doing (not pulling the ball, hitting with RISP, etc.). While the player may show to be very good (Joba), a large part must be attributed to the lack of film or notes opposing teams have on sed player. Often what determines the quality of the player is their response to the adjustments teams make to them. Joba, good. Ian, bad. Jay Bruce, eh.
Like most sports, it takes time before a player shows their worth (like the aforementioned Shane Spencer). I find it impossible to determine whether Murphy is the real deal because he has not played a real season yet, ESPECIALLY in baseball, a game of hot or cold streaks.
Murphy definitely is a good ploy for the Mets as they push to make the playoffs (and not collapse). Teams have not seen him, and he can be effective as shown statistically. He could key a surge by the Mets.
Whether he is actually any good, though, is anybody's (mostly Omar Minaya's) guess.
I pretty much agee Lefty, time will tell, but the first thing any position player must answer when they come to the bigs is whether they have the ability to hit major league pitchig. That's one hurdle Murphy seems to have cleared. He won't be a superstar over night, basically nobody is. Look how long it took Jose Reyes and Mike Pelfrey to develop. But personaly, I think Murphy hs all the tools. Oh, and for the record in 2-3 years Jay Bruce is going to be amazing...he just needs to get some help around him in that lineuup...but he's a guy I would take on my club any da of the week.
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