Daniel Murphy

From The Met Wiki

Age: 24 (born April 1, 1985)

Position: 1B (was 3B, wish for 2B. OF? never again)

Bats: Left Throws: Right

Number: 28

Acquired: Amateur draft

Contract: 1 year, $400,000

Daniel Murphy came out of nowhere in 2008 to capture Mets fans hearts, and he's maintained their support despite an awful 2009. Murph's a hard worker who plays with tremendous discipline and passion, and will get everything he can out of his talents. The question remains whether or not that's enough.

Daniel Murphy is Carlos Delgado's replacement at first base, and probably his successor. Murph is a very patient hitter who hits well the other way, but has struggled with inside fastballs and disappointed at the plate in 2009. A mediocre third baseman in the minors (a position occupied by David Wright), Murph was put in left field where he was OK in 2008, but terrible in 2009. When Delgado went for surgery Murph became the Mets' primary first baseman. He's made rookie mistakes there, but has looked far better there than he ever did in the outfield.

Murph's young career has been characterized by ups & downs:

• A 13th round pick in 2006, he wasn't considered a serious prospect as he began 2008 in AA
• An excellent 3 months in AA earned him a call-up into the Mets' injury-depleted outfield
• He starred for a couple of months, but faded at the end. Had an .817 OPS in 131 big league at bats in 2008, and then tore up the Arizona Fall League.
• Began 2009 as the Mets' starting left fielder
• Looked awful in left field and was banished from the outfield forever
• Found a new home at first base, but has struggled at the plate
• Made what people have been calling the play of the year, the Murphy reach around.

The Mets lost 2 of their first 13 games because of routine fly balls dropped by Murphy. In each case, the drop led to a 2-run tie-breaking inning from which the Mets failed to recover.

In 2008 and early 2009 Murphy pitchers pitched to Murphy like a normal rookie, but Murph exhibited patience, unusual success when behind in the count, and the ability to drive the ball the other way. But while he continues to excel in those areas, he hasn't done nearly enough damage when ahead in the count, and he's too often beaten by fastballs and other inside pitches. The areas of the game where he's excelled are the complementary aspects -- the stuff you have to do when pitchers are avoiding giving you good stuff to hit. He has yet to succeed in the primary aspect, pulling inside fastballs early in the count.

[edit] Rookie Status

Murphy had one too many 2008 at bat to maintain his rookie status. Were the playoffs not on the line in the final game, Murph would have surely been taken out so he could compete for the 2009 Rookie of the Year. Of course, if during that last week Murphy had successfully laid down a sacrifice or taken Zambrano's 3-2 pitch in the dirt, he also would have maintained his rookie status. Rookie status is the only status determined by at bats and not plate appearances. Of course as it turns out, lack of rookie status is not the only thing that's going to keep him from winning the Rookie of the Year award.

[edit] Defense

Murph was considered a mediocre third baseman in the minors. Though he played well in left field in 2008, he struggled terribly there in 2009, and appears to have neither the arm necessary for that position nor the ability to read fly balls. The Mets tried him at second base in AA and then in the Arizona Fall League, but don't seem to think he can handle the position.

But once Delgado went down Murphy finally surprised people positively with his defense. Murph has picked up the position nicely. He's made some mistakes from over-aggressiveness, but as he gains experience he may become very good defensively at first. Of course, he's going to need to really develop offensively if he's going to be a starting first baseman.

[edit] Analysis

Murphy has great at bats, takes a lot of pitches, hits to all fields, and gets on base. But that's not enough. Unless he can successfully play second base, which now looks unlikely, he's going to need to find some power if he's going to become a valuable Major Leaguer. He'll also need to improve his defense, wherever he plays, but there's reason to be confident that he'll develop into a good defensive first baseman.