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| Daniel Murphy | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Murphy with the Chicago Cubs in 2018 | |||||||||||||||
| Second baseman /First baseman | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1985-04-01)April 1, 1985 (age 40) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Left Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| August 2, 2008, for the New York Mets | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| September 26, 2020, for the Colorado Rockies | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .296 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 138 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 735 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Daniel Thomas Murphy (born April 1, 1985) is an American former professionalbaseballsecond baseman andfirst baseman. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theNew York Mets,Washington Nationals,Chicago Cubs, andColorado Rockies. While primarily asecond baseman, he also playedfirst base,third base, andleft field. Murphy was anMLB All-Star in 2014, 2016, and 2017. Internationally, Murphyrepresents the United States. In the2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC), he helped win Team USA's firstgold medal in a WBC tournament.
En route to leading the Mets to their fifthWorld Series appearance in franchise history, he won theNational League Championship Series MVP Award in 2015, setting a record for consecutive postseason games with ahome run with six.
Daniel Murphy was born inJacksonville, Florida, to Tom and Sharon Murphy. Murphy has a younger brother, Jonathan, and a sister, Tricia.[1] Murphy began playing baseball at the age of five years and played his high school ball atEnglewood High School in Jacksonville.Jacksonville University was the only four-year school to offer Murphy a scholarship.[2]
Murphy attended Jacksonville University, where he playedcollege baseball for theDolphins under head coachTerry Alexander. In college, he was regarded as a strong hitter, but a below-average fielder. As a freshman, when asked to introduce himself and name what position he played (implying his defensive position), Murphy instead gave his preferred position in thebatting order: "I'm Daniel Murphy from Jacksonville and I hit third."[3] He mostly played third base but was also slotted intoright field to minimize the defensive liability. As a junior in 2006, Murphy posted a .398batting average en route to being named theA-Sun Baseball Player of the Year.[2]
TheNew York Mets selected Murphy in the 13th round, with the 394th overall pick, of the2006 MLB draft.[4] The first two months of Murphy's professional career were spent rehabilitating a knee injury he suffered late in his college career.[2]
Murphy spent the entire 2007 season with theHigh-ASt. Lucie Mets of theFlorida State League. He began the 2008 season with theDouble-ABinghamton Mets.[5] On August 2, 2008, a day after being promoted to theTriple-ANew Orleans Zephyrs, the Mets left-handed reserve outfielderMarlon Anderson was placed on thedisabled list, and Murphy was called up to the majors.[6] In his first major leagueat bat, against three-time All-StarRoy Oswalt, Murphy hit asingle. Later in the same game, he made a difficult catch against the left field wall, throwing outHunter Pence atsecond base for adouble play to end the inning.[7] As of August 9, Murphy was only the fifth Mets rookie to record 10hits in his first 20 at bats. Murphy hit his firsthome run in the bottom of the sixth inning against theFlorida Marlins atShea Stadium on August 9. He finished the season batting .313, with two home runs and 17runs batted in (RBIs).
Although he is a naturalthird baseman, Murphy began to playleft field in 2008, and continued in 2009, due to the presence ofDavid Wright on the Mets.[6] Murphy had a hard time transitioning to left field. In May,Carlos Delgado underwent hip surgery and Murphy moved tofirst base.[8] Murphy led the Mets in home runs, with 12. This tied1977 as the season with the fewest home runs to lead a Mets team in franchise history.[9]
On March 30, 2010, Murphy hurt his knee in a spring training game against theSt. Louis Cardinals in a rundown between third base and home plate.[10] On June 2, while playing second base for theBuffalo Bisons, the Mets' Triple-A affiliate, he suffered a "high-grade" MCL tear while trying to turn a double play. Although surgery was not needed, he was expected to miss 4–6 months.[11]
The following year, Murphy suffered a season-ending injury to hisMCL on August 7, 2011 after a collision with theAtlanta Braves'José Constanza.[12] At the time of his season-ending injury, Murphy had the 3rd highest batting average in theNational League. However, Murphy did not have enough at-bats to qualify as a league leader at the conclusion of the 2011 season.
Murphy began the 2012 season as the Mets' startingsecond baseman after recovering from his MCL injury from 2011. On April 9, 2012, he hit a walk-off single against theWashington Nationals to give the Mets a 4–3 victory, and their first 4–0 start since 2007. After going 352 at-bats since his last home run on July 16, 2011, Murphy hit two against theChicago Cubs on June 27.[13] Murphy was named as the Mets nominee for the 2012MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award, which was ultimately won byMike Trout of theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim.[14]
Murphy had a strained muscle on his right side duringspring training. He returned to training on February 20, said he didn't have a timetable for his return to regular workouts.[15] For the period ending September 1, Murphy was named theNational League Player of the Week after accumulating fivedoubles, seven runs and 13 hits.[16] Murphy had a strong 2013, establishing himself as one of the best offensive 2nd basemen in the league. He played in 161 games and batted .286. He also finished 2nd in the National League with 188 hits. Murphy also contributed 13 home runs and 78 RBIs. Murphy led the NL in stolen base success rate, swiping 23/26 bases, an 88.4 percent success rate. Following the season, he was again nominated for theMLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award, this time losing out toBoston Red Sox second basemanDustin Pedroia.[14] Murphy was named to his firstMLB All-Star Game in 2014 as the backup to starterChase Utley.[17] His roster position was announced on July 6, at which time he had 105 hits (second in the NL) and a .295 batting average.
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In 2015, after an injury toDavid Wright, Murphy was moved to third base on June 4.[18] He spent the regular season splitting his time between first base, second base, and third base. Murphy hit the 225th and 226th doubles of his career in a game against theAtlanta Braves on September 22, giving him the second-most doubles in Mets franchise history, ahead ofEd Kranepool and behind Wright.[19] In the deciding 5th game of theNational League Division Series (NLDS) against theLos Angeles Dodgers, Murphy had three hits, including the game-winning home run in the sixth inning, to lead the Mets to a 3–2 win. He had also scored the Mets' second run of the game, after singling, going first-to-third on a walk, and scoring on a sacrifice foul-out.[20] For the entire NLDS, Murphy had five RBI and seven hits in 21 at-bats, three of them being home runs and one of them being a double, giving him a 1.143OPS.[21]
Over the course of the NLDS andNational League Championship Series (NLCS), Murphy became the first person in MLB history to hit a home run in six consecutive postseason games, beating a record set byCarlos Beltrán, and became the second person, afterLou Gehrig, to have a hit, a run, and an RBI in seven consecutive postseason games. He also broke a Mets franchise record for most home runs in the postseason, previously held byMike Piazza.[22] He hit .529 with four home runs, a double and six RBI and was named the 2015NLCS MVP.[23]
During the eighth inning of Game 4 of theWorld Series against theKansas City Royals, the Mets, having lost two of the first three games, were trying to hold onto a 3–2 lead with two runners on base for the Royals.Eric Hosmer hit a grounder that needed Murphy to try and make a fielding play. However, Murphy made a keyfielding error that not only led to a run scoring but also kept two runners on base with one out.Baseball Reference determined the play was the biggest moment in change ofwin probability (32%). The Royals went on to win 5–3 after scoring two more runs in the 8th inning.[24] Murphy tallied two errors and only three hits in his 20 at-bats as the Mets lost the series in five games.[25]
During the offseason, the Mets offered Murphy a one-year, $15.8 millionqualifying offer. On November 13, Murphy rejected the offer, thus becoming a free agent. This ensured the Mets a compensation draft pick if he signed with another team.[26]
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On December 24, 2015, Murphy agreed to a three-year, $37.5 million contract with theWashington Nationals.[27] The Mets gained a draft pick from the Nationals since Murphy turned down New York's qualifying offer. The Mets also got a compensation pick between the first and second rounds.[28]
On May 2, 2016, Murphy recorded his 1,000th career hit in a game against theKansas City Royals.[29] On June 5, Murphy was selected to his secondAll-Star Game. He was nearly voted a starter by fans, losing to the Cubs'Ben Zobrist by just 88 votes. In 142 games, Murphy finished the year with a .347 batting average, 25 home runs, and 104 RBI. He led the NL in doubles (47), slugging percentage (.595), andon-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage (.985). He won his firstSilver Slugger Award, being named the best offensive National League second baseman of 2016.[30] He finished second in theNL MVP voting behindKris Bryant.[31] On September 20, Murphy was the last batter thatMiami Marlins pitcherJosé Fernández faced in the major leagues.[32] Fernández died in a boating accident five days later.[33]
The following year, Murphy was voted in as a starter in his thirdAll-Star Game.[34] In 144 games, he finished the year with a .322 batting average, 23 home runs, and 93 RBI, despite battling a knee injury for at least part of the season. His batting average was best among National League second basemen and second-best in the National League overall, and his .928on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage was the best by a NL second basemen and more than 130 points higher than the next-best OPS among them. He won his second consecutiveSilver Slugger Award as an NL second baseman.[35]
Murphy underwentmicrofracture surgery on his knee in the offseason, and began the 2018 season on the 60-daydisabled list. On June 12, 2018, he was activated off of the DL.[36]
On August 21, 2018, Murphy was traded to theChicago Cubs in exchange for minor league infielderAndruw Monasterio and either aplayer to be named later or cash.[37] In 35 games for the Cubs, Murphy batted .297/.329/.471 with 6 home runs and 13 RBI.[38]
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On December 21, 2018, Murphy signed a two-year, $24 million contract with theColorado Rockies with a $12 million option for the 2021 season.[39] In 2019, he batted .279/.328/.452.
On October 28, 2020, Murphy became a free agent following the2020 season.[40] There was no official word whether Murphy or the Rockies declined to exercise his mutual option for the following season. He received a $6 millionbuyout and ended his Rockies career with a batting line of .269/.316/.426.[41]
On January 29, 2021, Murphy announced his retirement at the age of 35.[42]
On March 29, 2023, Murphy came out of retirement and signed with theLong Island Ducks of theAtlantic League of Professional Baseball.[43][44] In 37 games for the Ducks, Murphy batted .331/.410/.451 with 2 home runs and 19 RBI.
On June 12, 2023, Murphy signed a minor league contract with theLos Angeles Angels.[45] He played for theSalt Lake Bees, appearing in 38 games and batting .295/.379/.362 with one home run and 25 RBI. On August 15, Murphy again retired from professional baseball.[46]
Murphy signed on to announce some Mets games, backing up regular announcers, during 2024spring training.[47] He was also part of theSNY broadcast booth for two games in the2024 season.[48]
Daniel's younger brother, Jonathan, also playedcollege baseball atJacksonville University as an outfielder and was selected in the 19th round (580th overall) of the2012 Major League Baseball draft by theMinnesota Twins.[49] In August 2014, the Twins organization released Jonathan from theCedar Rapids Kernels.[50]
Murphy married his longtime girlfriend, Victoria "Tori" Ahern, on December 1, 2012, in Florida. The couple has two sons and a daughter.[51]
When Murphy took a three-dayleave of absence from the team to attend the birth of his child, he received heavy criticism fromNew York City radio commentatorsBoomer Esiason andCraig Carton on their show for doing so. While they were roundly criticized for their comments, including a statement by Mets managerTerry Collins where he told them to "look in the mirror," Murphy himself said only that he was aware of the comments.[52][53]
In 2011, Murphy and fellow major leaguersShane Victorino andClay Buchholz appeared on a specialVeterans Day episode of theABC television seriesExtreme Makeover: Home Edition.[54]
On June 9, 2014, Murphy was invited to speak at the Working Families Summit at theWhite House.[17][55]
In March 2015, Major League Ambassador for InclusionBilly Bean visited the Mets spring training clubhouse. Murphy, a devoutChristian, made controversial comments when he remarked on Bean, who is gay: "I do disagree with the fact that Billy is a homosexual. That doesn't mean I can't still invest in him and get to know him" and "You can still accept them but I do disagree with the lifestyle, 100%."[56] The next day Bean responded in an article onMLB.com, "I appreciate that Daniel spoke his truth. I really do. I was visiting his team, and a reporter asked his opinion about me. He was brave to share his feelings, and it made me want to work harder and be a better example that someday might allow him to view things from my perspective, if only for just a moment."[57][58] Murphy announced the same day he would no longer talk to the media about his religious beliefs, and said he would "stick to baseball."[59][60]
| Preceded by | Mets Organizational Player of the Year (withNick Evans) 2009 | Succeeded by |
