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Over the past few weeks I have been literally shocked by the amount of criticism that Dan Murphy has received. I am a big believer in Murphy and I really think/know that he cannot be a bench player next year. As a team we always talk about nuturing players and getting them ready. This guy is ready. He just needs a little more time.
Why? Well look at his statistics over the season. In the second half of the season, he started to hit a lot better (hitting .285 in last 70 or so games) and the big change was Howard Johnson sat him down and talked to him about how he needed to make adjustments to his routine. That being a workhorse is not the only way to be a better hitter. Now he improved with this knowledge in a very lacking lineup. Murphy was day in and out relied on to be a 3rd in the lineup hitter. If the team was healthier then he would be hitting later in the lineup and he would be getting better pitches to hit.
So lets play the if game. If the Mets get a bat this offseason, and all signs are pointing that they are, lets look at the changes to the lineup. (Assuming the Mets get an LF and keep Murphy at first or get a firstbase and pick Murphy over Pagan in the outfield, which is a discussion for another day).
The Mets lineup would then consist of Reyes, Castillo, Wright, Beltran, *New Bat*, Francoeur, Murphy, *Catcher*, Pitcher. Now Murphy is batting seventh. In some cases his hitting situation is the same as last year as he would be pitched around to get to the 8th man, but the situation now involves Murphy being the last big man in a rally. In that situation, he would have to get pitches to hit.
Its time for us as fans to realize that Murphy has a good shot of being what we want. Home grown talent that can flourish if we give him a chance. He had a pretty good first full season and he deserves another one.
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Why did I know we would be exactly on the same page on this. I have been a Murphy supporter since he came up in 2008. In my “what to do article” on the NL East for next season I plan to break down each teams strengths and weaknesses and what they need to do to compete in 2010. I’ll give you a heads up on my Mets report. Murphy needs to play first base this coming year. With that said, I’d love to know your thoughts on Carlos Delgado. I’m not sure we will be together on this. I’ll await your response.
Murphy is a nice kid and I like his hustle but his 2nd half improvement I think is largely based on the AAA picthing he faced in Sept callups. If he played 2B I could live with his stats, but not at the corners esepcially with C being a potenial bust from an offensive standpoint. If they can package Murph for a quality arm I would do it.
Joe Pisapia
Fanatsy Baseball Huddle