Monday, March 30, 2009

Daniel Murphy Mets - Batting 2nd This Season

Daniel Murphy might not see an off-speed pitch until August! Murphy was one of two players (Eddie Kunz the other) that I was really hoping would have a break-through spring for the NY Mets. Kunz has already been sent to the minors, but Murphy is ready to break through in a big way this season.

Today, Jerry Manuel confirmed that Murphy will not only play every day in left field, but he will also bat 2nd between Jose Reyes and David Wright.

Murphy's in great position batting in the #2 spot. He's left handed and will shield the vision of the catcher when Reyes is on first. With Reyes on base, pitchers will also throw Murphy more fastballs in order to give the catcher every opportunity to try and throw out Reyes stealing a base.

Wright batting behind Murphy will also bring more fastballs. Opposing teams are not going to want to fool around with a lot of off-speed pitches and risk putting Murphy on base ahead of Wright. If Daniel Murpy can turn on a fast ball, David Wright could be looking at a lot of 1st and 3rd situations!

I'm going to try and pick up some Murphy rookies before they get too expensive!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Daniel Murphy should have a great year, but I'm not sold on hitting him in the number two spot.

I think Murphy could still be a productive hitter in the bottom third of the order. If Luis Castillo is not hitting first or second, he's useless in a National League lineup.

James said...

I agree that Luis Castillo is useless in a National League line-up! :)

I'm curious to find out what kind of Murphy will bring.