2
2011
The Mets New Whipping Boy: Daniel Murphy
An article by 
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to the newest whipping boy of the New York Mets, Daniel Murphy!!
(And…the crowd goes wild)
The Mets were on a roll, taking a four game sweep in Cincinnati and even starting their road series against the Washington Nationals with a win.
Then lose three in a row and all goodwill built up within the fan base is thrown into Flushing Bay.
I’ve often said in the past that Carlos Beltran had to be the most divisive Met. Now, it seems that position is going to be most likely filled by Daniel Murphy. Yes, Daniel Murphy, the good-looking hard-working kid who takes extra batting practice each day to work on his technique, has no position to play. He came up as a third baseman, but as we all know, that position is a little bit occupied right now (and perhaps for a medium-to-long term).
Right now, the Mets are down a few men, to be quite blunt, but possibly the biggest loss to injury this year was Ike Davis, who may be deciding on surgery this week. Which means to the dismay of many fans, that Daniel Murphy will more than likely be manning 1B for as long as that may be.
His base path blunders piss me off. His brain cramps in the field can be mind-boggling, especially the glaring error on Monday night, which caused the bases to be loaded and the subsequent grand slam given up to Mike Stanton by Jason Isringhausen.
Jason Isringhausen, the seasoned professional who was serving up meatballs faster than an Italian grandmother that inning, somehow manages to get off the hook for that one, with the newest whipping boy of Metsopotamia gets hung out to dry in Daniel Murphy.
Look, I make no apologies for liking Daniel Murphy. This is far from an apologist piece. It just really gets me that the mob mentality is really causing a minor riot in the blogosphere among other cyberspacian areas.
The Mets have lost three in a row, two very winnable games in DC and one that was, eh, whatever it didn’t seem like they were trying the first part against the Marlins Monday night.
Has anyone bothered to dig up how the usual suspects have done in that time period?
No? Well, allow me to do it for you.
Jose Reyes: .231/.231/.308
Angel Pagan: .083/.083/.167
Lucas Duda: .100/.100/.400 (inc his big HR from last night!)
Josh Thole: 286/.444/.286
The only people marginally tearing things up are David Wright and Jason Bay, .300/.417/.300 and .333/.333/.583, and even DW’s slugging isn’t all that hot.
What does that say to me? That the Mets are losing because of lack of OFFENSE not because of a mental gaffe on the base paths or in the 10th inning of a game that technically the team was LUCKY to be playing in! (Oh and Izzy gave up a grand slam. Just wanted to make that evident. And Jon Niese had problems in Sunday’s game
…and Angel Pagan got quite ballsy trying to stretch out a long single right before Duda’s home run…)
Yes I get that pitching and defense are important, but over the years we’ve forgotten the importance of bats in the lineup too, perhaps because we really haven’t had one with all the injuries there have been. We’ve been brainwashed into thinking we need a defensive shortstop (like Rey Ordonez) or second baseman (like Luis “Two Hands” Castillo), and yet we get upset when they don’t hit, which is something they don’t have.
This is less of an indictment on Murphy as it is on the team sport. We seem to forget in those shoulda-had-a-V8 moments like Murphy had is that this is a team, and they are on a losing streak not because of Murphy forgetting how to run or toss a ball, but rather that our best player has been slumping and the rest of the team is NOT HITTING.
But sure, go ahead and rip apart one of the best hitters on the team in the meantime, (who by the way has gone 5-for-13 in this losing streak) and see how well he performs then. Remember how well that worked out for Luis Castillo.
About the Author: Taryn Cooper
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let me help you out with a few pointer you seemed to have left out coop ok:
“Daniel Murphy, the good-looking hard-working kid who takes extra batting practice each day to work on his technique”
maybe he should be taking EXTRA DEFENSIVES PRACTICES
Has anyone bothered to dig up how the usual suspects have done in that time period?”
reyes, duda, pagan and thole.. agree, but wright has had 4 errors in last 1 games?? he looks rusty in the field but hot at the plate?? yeah, be consistent with the usual suspects ok
“Yes I get that pitching and defense are important, but over the years we’ve forgotten the importance of bats in the lineup too, perhaps because we really haven’t had one with all the injuries there have been”
BINGO.. there, had we had pitching, or a good defense this wouldn’t happen, by not having our regular lineup means we DON’T HAVE OUR REGULAR FIELDERS, therefore we have to use butchers who can’t hit or field on the team, if ask me i rather have someone who can defend but can’t hit to someone like murphy who has the QUIETEST 320 ba avg in the majors but can’t field or rather think defensively..
What are defensives practices?
taking groundballs, listening to your coaches, knowledge of “in game” situations.. you know.. usual stuff
Terry Collins: Ok fellas, lets set up here a moment. I’d like to practice the play where our closer is getting pummeled and the ball is smashed into right field with runners on 1st and 2nd and the hitter runs into no mans land while the runner going to third is the go ahead run. Ready go.
Team: Anyone else want to play Nintendo?
That’s funny
What do you expect your going to get when all your drafted position players come from the 13th round like Thole and Murphy? Or the 7th round like Duda?
There’s not a lot of Willie Mays’ and Mickey Mantle’s drafted in the 7th or 13th round especially when the primary consideration is signing guys who are inexpensive.
Ike Davis is the only everyday position player drafted by Minaya to make it to Queens that was drafted anywhere other than the 7th or 13th round. No one questions his ability to play both offense AND defense. Why? Because he has the talent to play well on both sides of the ball. That’s why he was selected in the first round.
Players that can do both are usually gone by the time we draft and if their still available require an overslot deal which until this year hasn’t been a priority for the Wilpon.
That’s why we have so many one dimensional LF/1B utility types and it’s just so typical that those positions are already filled.
Even Josh Thole spent two years in the minors playing 1B
Absurd there is no correlation between talent and the round many guys are drafted in. There are as many surprises from later rounds as busts in early rounds.
Untrue. The players drafted in the first couple of rounds have the complete package and the overall talent level drops with every round.
If you combine getting all of your drafted position players from the 7th and 13th round with choosing them for signability purposes first and foremost your just doubling your disadvantage.
What’s really scary is that Duda, Murphy, Thole and Turner (he was a 7th round draft choice too) are the guys that made it up to the Majors.
Imagine the defense and instincts on the guys that didn’t.
Keith Hernandez was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 42nd round of the 1971 amateur draft.
this guy is becoming a major nuisance now with his daily Second Guess rants on how the Mets SHOULD have drafted.
That has NOTHING to do with the topic. This guy is out of hand now
amen to that. the man is an internet stalker of former met gms. is that an official illness?
Who are you talking about? taqee? Are you for real? He is one of the best writers here.
I have nothing else to add. Mets fans by and large have always been less than well, smart to me since day one. Their love of players has less to do with reality than perceived reality.
This is the beauty or damnation of baseball. Football has complete teams for the offense and defense. Real specialists but in baseball you have to be a COMPLETE athlete (did you get that you football guys) so in the case of Murph and all players who make errors-it is part of the game and you just have to practice till you get it right or go back to the minors or wind up in the AL as a DH. Is it possible that Murph’s defensive skills will not improve-yes, then you go to plan “B”.
I bet this post causes a riot in several cities.
Good write up and good read. Slapping Murphy up on a cross is not the answer for a TEAM that is struggling. Benching one of the better hitters in the lineup is also not the answer. If anything, put Murph back at 2B and put the Duda at 1B and Hairston in RF. He hits better when he starts anyway. Murph’s Bat + his D is greater than Turner’s Bat + his D, if that makes sense. Unfortunately having Murph + Duda on the right side of the diamond will lead to a couple more whipping boy posts, I’m sure.
Not having Ike is huge impact on this team both for his presence in the lineup and in the field. Having Murphy at 2B while Ike’s at 1B helps to limit the defensive liability Murph is because of Ike’s range. Hopefully they don’t need to amputate his foot at the ankle!
Murphy in between Davis and Reyes is an experiment I’d be willing to see take place for 162 games. Ike’s instincts, length and right handed glove allow the 2B to cheat to the middle while Reyes speed and range allow for the 2B to sit deep in the hole.
Exactly!
I Think it’s worth an extended look but I would also mitigate the potential harm by playing Tejada when Niese and Dickey are on the mound and I’d get Murphy out of there with a lead 7th inning or later.
The Major Leagues are for winning, the minors for learning.
“The Major Leagues are for winning, the minors for learning.”
Agreed! There are many teams that put in defensive replacements for good hitting/poor fielding players. So slapping Tejada or Ozzie Smith or whomever in there for Murph in the later innings would be fine by me.
(and just a side note, there is no defensive replacement for 1B on this team! yikes)
There rarely is. 1B is where you usually stick the guy who can hit well but can’t field on an NL team. Ike being an exception to that.
Tejada is an accomplished minor leaguer, nothing more. He can’t hit and he has 17 errors this year while Murphy has only 9. In the past month and a half or so, Tejada hasn’t hit squat in either the majors or at Buffalo. In his last ten games at Buffalo, he’s hitting .189. Check it out. BTW, how would you handle the roster assignments with your idea?
Of the many posts I’ve read in the past year about Ruben, the standard excuse for his lack of being a complete major leaguer, was that he’s still learning.
Funny post. I like it.
If I remember correctly, the Mets had a certain firstbaseman teaching Murphy, Evans and 1 more guy not identified how to play 1st base a couple of springs ago. His name Keith Hernandez.
He spent like ONE DAY working with him! jeez people….
Sorry Bayonne, It was not 1 day, it was a few days. Actually what my point was to say was that we have one of the best first baseman around upstairs. If I was a player I would be going to him and getting pointers on a regular basis. Fundamentals can be corrected, instincts are not easily thaught. I don’t know if it’s because they don’t want to step on infield coach’s toes or what, but I would ask to use him if possible. They work on hitting during season, why not defense?
Story from Adam Rubin Feb of 2010
“Hernandez, an ’86 Met and popular team broadcaster, provided a first base tutorial to Daniel Murphy in Port St. Lucie over the past two days. The sessions, which also included Nick Evans, will take a hiatus as Hernandez celebrates his fifth wedding anniversary with wife, Kai. But Hernandez plans to remain involved with teaching Murphy during spring training, after ensuring he’s not stepping on toes with Jerry Manuel and new infield instructor/third base coach Chip Hale”.
So is he still going to him or not.
Murphy has made some bone headed plays that is true but he has made a number of very aggressive plays at first base the likes of which we haven’t seen since Keith Hernandez. He is always trying to get the lead runner (yes, sometimes foolishly) and does anybody charge a bunt any better? Give the guy some slack. Oh, and the botched run down last night-he will probably never make that mistake again in his entire career.
Since Keith Hernandez? I think John Olerud and Carlos Delgado may have something to say about that oh and don’t underestimate Delgado because he did a nice job playing 1B while he was here and was fantastic at scooping throws even though his range may not have been great. He saved David Wright and the rest of the infield a lot of errors
oh and even Eddie Murray. The Mets may have stunk then but Eddie Murray was STILL the first baseman and you can’t compare Murphy to him either so come on now!
C’mon Bayonne. To say Carlos Delgado he did a nice job playing 1B is absurd. He was a big hitter who was a below average (and then some) fielder. Willie commented that Carlos never got his uniform dirty. Maybe Carlos and Willie had differences beyond the ballfield, but facts are facts.
In fact, Carlos was called The Statue of Liberty.
He’s commenting on the aggressive style that Murph has. While all very good and slick fielding, I would not consider Olerud, Delgado or Murray aggressive defenders. He’s not comparing their overall skills.
None of the people you mentioned played the bunt as aggressively as Murphy. Please respond to what is actually written and not answer, in the manner of a politician, the question you want to answer.