Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 2:09 am Posts: 13586 Location: Somebody's stolen my avatar
Murphy's the only National I like & I'm happy he's doing well. It would be weird if he hits .350 plus by year end, but I feel like he wouldn't have done that if he stayed here. I can't explain that, but it's how I feel.
I'm fine with how it worked out. I'm happy with Walker and I'm grateful to Murphy. If the Wilponzi's had been smart, they'd have extended him a couple years ago (and I said that at the time), but they weren't and they didn't and we got a draft pick in return, so it's all good. I'd love it if he hits .380 for the year and goes in the record books as one of a very few people in recent years who've done that.
_________________ Heisenberg (not the one from Breaking Bad) get pulled over for speeding. The cop asks him "Do you know how fast you were going?" Heisenberg replies, "No, but we know exactly where we are!" The officer looks at him confused and says "you were going 108 miles per hour!" Heisenberg throws his arms up and cries, "Great! Now we're lost!"
Murphy's the only National I like & I'm happy he's doing well. It would be weird if he hits .350 plus by year end, but I feel like he wouldn't have done that if he stayed here. I can't explain that, but it's how I feel.
I'm fine with how it worked out. I'm happy with Walker and I'm grateful to Murphy. If the Wilponzi's had been smart, they'd have extended him a couple years ago (and I said that at the time), but they weren't and they didn't and we got a draft pick in return, so it's all good. I'd love it if he hits .380 for the year and goes in the record books as one of a very few people in recent years who've done that.
If he stays healthy I bet he does close to .350 - but he does have a history of going on the shelf for a few weeks at a time with leg issues.
I actually buy Murphy's power surge more than his BA surge...he was making a concerted effort to dial eight more often late last year. But I can't fathom that you swing for the gaps/fences more AND manage to raise your BA 80-90 points too.
I actually buy Murphy's power surge more than his BA surge...he was making a concerted effort to dial eight more often late last year. But I can't fathom that you swing for the gaps/fences more AND manage to raise your BA 80-90 points too.
Well, unless its not as much "swinging for the fences" but actual mechanical tweaks that have just led to an overall better offensive performance.
I agree that small tweaks are often overplayed in their significance and sometimes just counteract each other, but then you have a guy like Justin Turner, who was just a mediocre overall offensive player when he was here - not great discipline, certainly below average pop, just an OK hit tool - and his entire offensive game gets a boost by changing up his swing/approach. So, I mean, wholesale changes do happen.
Its usually a bunch of nonsense, but sometimes when guys just keep hitting its silly to wait for an inevitable fall. When John Buck tells you his fluky early-count HRs in April are part of a change in approach (that is basically "swing hard, early"), its safe to approach that with skepticism. When Murphy is crushing October baseballs and brings it forward to Memorial Day, maybe theres something there.
He's hitting over .500 on groundballs - I'm not sure Tony Gwynn or John Olerud ever did that. I also saw a stat that indicated teams should be shifting on him more because he's pulling most of his groundballs - we'll see if that starts happening.
And Justin Turner isn't the best comparison - there wasn't 6.5 full seasons of MLB stats on Justin Turner before he revolutionized himself to get a starting job. Murph is literally twice as good of a hitter as he was with the Mets - I think any stat person would say that's a little hard to believe after less than 1/3 of a season.
He's hitting over .500 on groundballs - I'm not sure Tony Gwynn or John Olerud ever did that. I also saw a stat that indicated teams should be shifting on him more because he's pulling most of his groundballs - we'll see if that starts happening.
And Justin Turner isn't the best comparison - there wasn't 6.5 full seasons of MLB stats on Justin Turner before he revolutionized himself to get a starting job. Murph is literally twice as good of a hitter as he was with the Mets - I think any stat person would say that's a little hard to believe after less than 1/3 of a season.
Only because Turner wasn't good enough to compile major league at bats during that time. If you consider last summer the start of Murph's "breakout", he's doing this at a very similar time age-wise to Turner's big breakout.
You can keep chalking this up to luck, but he's hitting with far more power and far more overall hard contact than he has before. And its not even just fly balls hitting a jet stream or a hitter friendly park - sure his HR/FB is up a bit as you'd expect, but its not crazy - 10.4% over 8.3%. Its not simply ground balls finding holes. In fact, he's hitting less ground balls than ever (only 28% GB rate) so even the expected regression in BA on ground balls isn't going to have this horrifying regression impact that everyone appears to be banking on. Dude's just killing the ball.
Nats down 1-0, bottom the the 9th, Murphy in to pinch hit and hits a 2-2 pitch out to tie the game.
On pace for 44 doubles, 31 homers, 117 RBI and .350 average
Pretty unreal to be honest. In his 6 full seasons as a Met he averaged .287, 36 doubles, 10 HR and 64 RBI per season. How the heck do you explain it other than " Because Mets".
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:01 am Posts: 24853 Location: Pittsburgh
Murphy's represents one of the most dramatic late blooms in baseball history. Sometimes you just need to tip your cap and call someone your daddy.
_________________ Baseball has a way of ripping your ❤️ out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest, then healing itself just in time for Spring Training. - Thor
Yeah, and if you're using the "He's 19" logic, then I guess the best report a scout could give us is:
"I have no idea. He's a teenager. He may go through 5 arm surgeries between now and his 30th birthday. He may add a pitch. He may lose a pitch. He may put on 30 lbs and add velocity. He may put on 50 lbs and eat his way out of the league. I literally have no idea what he is going to be."
But thats not what these guys are paid to do, nor what we are looking for them to do, right?
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 3:56 pm Posts: 29732 Location: Danbury, CT
And Wilson Ramos, he of the career .258/.301/.411/.712 line is hitting .331/.381/.536/.917 in 91 games. Already surpassing the total games played in 2013 (78) and 2014 (88).
_________________ Terry Collins cost the Mets a World Series title.
The Wilpons are the worst owners in worldwide professional sports.
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