Jump to content
Buffalo Bulls - UB Fan Forum

Tom Murphy


UB77

Recommended Posts

This was a disappointing development honestly.

For the last few years it seemed he was closer and closer to finally taking over the job in Colorado. I loved the landing spot to because he is such a good hitter and Coors field would just help further that. I thought because of that combination he could literally be a Top 3 fantasy catcher this or next year.

The Rockies totally chose defense in their decision here. I thought for sure Murphy was a lock for the #2 role (which would have been more of a 1A/1B)

Ianetta and Wolters are defense at best and I thought one of them for sure would stay and Murphy would take the other. 

Regardless the Giants could be an interesting situation. Posey is starting to fade and unlikely to play a lot behind the dish anymore. Erik Kratz I see in the minors at some point. If Murphy can hit a bit early on this could be something for him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Murphy obviously had promise, but man, last year was not good.  His best shot to stick, but some seriously ugly defense and the bat didn't come close to making up for it. No way he was going to be top 3- don't believe PCL numbers.  ;D   This is good better for him I think, as he had no shot in Colorado.  

Edited by ed
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, ed said:

Murphy obviously had promise, but man, last year was not good.  His best shot to stick, but some seriously ugly defense and the bat didn't come close to making up for it. No way he was going to be top 3- don't believe PCL numbers.  ;D   This is good better for him I think, as he had no shot in Colorado.  

PCL numbers are always inflated. And his defense has always been average at its peak. But his bat showed enough signs that I figured he'd get regular play time. His upside offensively is very good (in a weak position for offense) and playing in Coors would have only helped that. I had a feeling they would go with the 2 better defensive guys there.

He doesn't have a good enough sample size in the majors to really know what he could do.

The catching position is so flat in fantasy that my bold Top 3 prediction had he stayed in Colorado with regular play time still stands even though it might seem a bit wild. Sure he may have hit .220 with 150 k but 24 HR 75 rbi but that would actually probably be enough to do it. I mean with 125-135 games I could see those type of numbers.

But the Giants situation does provide a bit more upside even. Posey needs support and it seems like they'll give Murphy a shot. 

I guess we will see. I just want him to have one good solid run at it to see if hes got enough to make it. His defense always worried me enough that he would probably need to hit to stick in the majors and eventually be a 1B/DH type.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, xDerekRx said:

PCL numbers are always inflated. And his defense has always been average at its peak. But his bat showed enough signs that I figured he'd get regular play time. His upside offensively is very good (in a weak position for offense) and playing in Coors would have only helped that. I had a feeling they would go with the 2 better defensive guys there.

He doesn't have a good enough sample size in the majors to really know what he could do.

The catching position is so flat in fantasy that my bold Top 3 prediction had he stayed in Colorado with regular play time still stands even though it might seem a bit wild. Sure he may have hit .220 with 150 k but 24 HR 75 rbi but that would actually probably be enough to do it. I mean with 125-135 games I could see those type of numbers.

But the Giants situation does provide a bit more upside even. Posey needs support and it seems like they'll give Murphy a shot. 

I guess we will see. I just want him to have one good solid run at it to see if hes got enough to make it. His defense always worried me enough that he would probably need to hit to stick in the majors and eventually be a 1B/DH type.

unfortunately, i think we know the bat isn't going to carry in the majors - he's a bit of a hack.  strikes out way too much.  doesn't walk. this was an issue in the minors too, so small majors sample size isn't an issue.  i think his early good showing in the majors was what you see with a lot of guys with big power but not a great hit tool - they hit mistakes and or pitchers straight up challenging them.  then, when pitchers see he can clobber those, they actually pitch to him and it gets ugly. if he can be an average defender (which might be a stretch at this point), he'll be a nice backup.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

San Fran designated him for assignment yesterday, decided to stick with Kratz.

With no options left this is kind of how its going to go for Murphy unless he sticks.

Good news is that Seattle picked him up right away. The situation there seems even more favorable. A bad team with no real standout catcher. Seems like a good spot for him to get at least a look.

The other positive is major league teams still want to see what hes got. No one has let him just float off to AAA just yet.

This write up actually put quite a positive spin on Murph. Kinda echoes what I think of his defense, its actually closer to average (including throwing out runners) than most hit only catchers who have to be converted to DH/1B right away.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/03/giants-trade-tom-murphy-mariners.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the dfa process is what you have to do with someone with no options that you want to try and  stash in the minors, and your always want usable catchers to stash in the minors (looks like that's what san fran was hoping to do). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He ended up being the backup last night. I really like this situation for him. I mean I kinda said that for Colorado and San Fran too... but here hes on a team no expecting much and with no real strong catching competition.

He's penciled in batting 7th for the Mariners against the Sox tonight. Be fun to see if he can seize the opportunity a bit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Didnt watch the game so wasn't sure. Any walks for him are a good sign, regardless was just one game.

Of bigger issue Omar Narvaez has gotten off to a quick start this year. He was 0/9 in the Japan series a couple weeks ago but in the real season start hes gone 2/4 and 2/5 with HR in both games and is 1/1 tonight with an RBI. At least early on this could prevent Murphy from getting as many ABs as we'd like to see.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got into only his second game this weekend. Went 2/4 with 1 run , 1 walk and 2k

Seattle is playing far better than I think most had thought, and Narvaez has been much better than I was thinking. So while the situation hasn't been perfect, Murphy has shown well in the couple games he has seen thus far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update! Actually found a stream of the game just to watch his 4th AB of the night.

Down 1-2 in the count I was thinking how cool it would be if launched one out to make me eat my last post, next pitch he cranked a high fast ball out.

So Murphy actually finishes the game

1/4 1HR 1RBI 1k

Down 10-6 in the 9th, it also extended Seattles record 16 games in a row to start a season HR streak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Murph launched another HR yesterday going 2/4, 1hr 2rbi

Only has gotten into 6 games as Narvaez is hitting so well (hitting .304, 5hr 12rbi in 19 games)

But hes hitting .429, 2 HR, 4 RBI in 21 ABs

When hes gotten a chance hes produced. And hes been getting 3-4 games off between appearance. Definitely nice!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Murphy has homered in 2 straight games this week. a 3 run shot and 2 run show respectively.

Overall on the season hitting .297 5hr 11rbi

Nice to see him maintaining his success in the backup role. His strikeout rate has remained the same. If he could ever lessen that a bit I could see him staying in the bigs for a while.

He also pitched 3 innings over 3 games this season in blowouts. One game he even pitched a clean inning with 2ks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, xDerekRx said:

I quite enjoy following Murph this year. The Mariners are now using him at DH just to get his bat in the lineup.

After hitting a 3 run HR yesterday is up to .300 8 hr 18 rbi on the season

Both catchers are being used as the DH.  In today's game, Tom is catching right now, and Narvaez is scheduled to be the DH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/27/2019 at 2:55 PM, ed said:

unfortunately, i think we know the bat isn't going to carry in the majors - he's a bit of a hack.  strikes out way too much.  doesn't walk. this was an issue in the minors too, so small majors sample size isn't an issue.  i think his early good showing in the majors was what you see with a lot of guys with big power but not a great hit tool - they hit mistakes and or pitchers straight up challenging them.  then, when pitchers see he can clobber those, they actually pitch to him and it gets ugly.   

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-mariners-tom-murphy-is-making-the-most-of-it/

Sounds like he worked on changing his approach this off-season. Hopefully that means he can sustain some of the success he's had this year. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

After a big 2 games where Tom went 5/7 3HR 6RBI he now has a season stat line of:

.284 - 13 HR - 29 RBI

Still has poor K:BB ratio at 65:7 but I think that'll always just be one of his flaws. Otherwise everything has looked good offensively this season.

Like I said way back before the season, I thought he had fantasy potential and hes the most added catcher on Yahoo today. Ive actually started him a few times throughout the year

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, xDerekRx said:

After a big 2 games where Tom went 5/7 3HR 6RBI he now has a season stat line of:

.284 - 13 HR - 29 RBI

Still has poor K:BB ratio at 65:7 but I think that'll always just be one of his flaws. Otherwise everything has looked good offensively this season.

Like I said way back before the season, I thought he had fantasy potential and hes the most added catcher on Yahoo today. Ive actually started him a few times throughout the year

and he's good at cartwheels too!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...