Prospect Focus: Daniel Murphy

I did 3 of these last year...should be doing many more this year, both in and out of season. Enjoy

Splits courtesy www.minorleaguesplits.com

Murphy was selected in the 13th round of the 2006 draft out of Jacksonville University, where as a junior, he hit .398/.470/.534/1.004 with 10 2b, 3b, 6 HR in 221 ABs. He also stole 15/22 bases, and had a ridiculous 34/13 BB/K ratio. His K rate was an absurdly low .0588, and his BB/K ratio was an equally absurd 2.6154. He throws right and bats lefty.

He has shown a history of vast improvement in his plate discipline. His freshman year at Jacksonville, he hit .377/.455/.506/.961, with 5 2b, 3b, HR, in 77 ABs. He struck out 13 times, a K rate of .168, and a 9/13 BB/K ratio, or 0.6923. His sophomore season, he hit .329/.381/.429/.810, with 12 2b, 2 3b, 2 HR in 219 ABs, and a 11/23 BB/K ratio. His K rate was .105, and his BB/K ratio was 0.4783.

After the Mets took him, he played at 3 levels, Kingsport, Brooklyn, and the GCL. Overall, he batted .213/.315/.300/.615 in 80 ABs. He had a 12/7 BB/K ratio, and a 0.0875 K rate, and a 1.7143 BB/K ratio.

In 2007, Murphy was in St. Lucie, and he batted .287/.342/.429/.771 in 513 ABs, with 34 2b, 3 3b and 11 HR. He had a BB/K ratio of 44/63, or 0.6984. His K rate was .123. His lefty/righty splits show that he is more adapt at hitting RHP.

Murphy hit .257/.314/.362/.676 vs LHP, 39 for 152, with 5 2b, 3b, 3 HR, and an 11/19 BB/K ratio, or 0.5789. His K rate vs LHP was .132. Versus RHP, he hit .299/.353/.457/.810, 108 for 361, with 29 2b, 2 3b, 8 HR and a 33/44 BB/K ratio, or 0.7500. His K rate vs RHP was .122.

THE FUTURE: Murphy should be manning third base for the Binghamton Mets in 2008, and as with Mike Carp, how well he hits lefties will determine his future. Both Carp and Murphy can abuse RHP, however, how they fare vs LHP will determine whether they truly emerge as serious contenders to man 1b for the Mets in 2009.

UPDATE 2008: Murphy's enjoyed a meteroic rise through the farm system in 2008, and is in a LF platoon (with Nick Evans) for the Mets. As predicted (really it wasn't that much of a guess), Murphy opened the year in Binghamton, manning 3b. However, in late June, as Murphy emerged as a legit bat, the Mets opted to try Daniel at 2b, with mixed results (5 errors in 15 games). Then in August, Marlon Anderson's hamstring, which had never fully healed, flared up, which cleared the way for Murphy's callup. Since arriving in New York (Houston, actually), he has not stopped hitting, putting up a ridiculous .404/.491/.617/1.108 line through 47 ABs. What has really impressed Mets brass (and fans, for that matter) is Murphy's extraordinaryly advanced batting eye, he's got an 8/7 BB/K in the majors.

As we said, Murphy started out in Binghamton, where he put up a great .308/.374/.496/.870 line in 357 ABs. Counting his 14 AB rehab stint in Brooklyn, and his 4 AB cameo in New Orleans, Murphy's hitting .315/.379/.493/.872 (117 for 372, 26 2b, 3b, 13 HR, 39/48 BB/K) in the minor leagues this year, with a .8125 BB/K ratio, and a .129 K rate). As we highlighted last year, Murphy fared much better against RHP then LHP (.676 OPS vs LHP, .810 vs RHP). Well, Murphy turned that around in a big way this season. Against LHP this year, he hit .305/.363/.481/.844 (40 for 131, 9 2b, 3b, 4 HR, 10/18 BB/K), with a .5556 BB/K ratio, and a .137 K rate. Versus RHP, he hit .320/.385/.502/.887 (77 for 241, 17 2b, 9 HR, 29/30 BB/K), with a great .9667 BB/K ratio, and .125 K rate. As you can see from the numbers, Murphy's also improved his power this season, he hit 11 HR all of last year, and has 15 this season between the minors and majors. Also good, this improvement in power has not come at the expense of his K rate (.123 in 2007, .129 in 2008).

Over Murphy's 2+ seasons in the minor leagues, he's gotten just under 1000 ABs (965), and put up a decent line: .291/.353/.444/.797 (281 for 965, 61 2b, 4 3b, 26 HR, 95/118 BB/K), and has hit better versus RHP then LHP (.300/.364/.468/.832 vs RHP in 643 ABs, .273/.331/.394/.725 in 322 ABs vs LHP)

THE NEW FUTURE: The Mets have indicated they will be sending Murphy to winterball to play LF, which means that they view him as an answer to the LF spot in 2009. And as we've seen in his brief time in the majors, he stays in very well against lefties. This would afford top prospect Fernando Martinez a full season in AAA, too.