Daniel Murphy started the season mired in a deep slump, but he had a productive day at the plate during yesterday’s 6-3 victory over the Braves.
Murphy belted a bases clearing double in the first inning to put the Mets up 3-0. He finished the day going 2-for-3 with 4 RBI and a walk.
“It was nice to get another win – that’s the most important part,” he said. “It’s definitely nice to get a piece of it personally.” (Roger Rubin)
Murphy, who is batting .170 with just one home run, has been working hard to get himself back on track.
“You name it, I’ve tried it for the last 10 days,” he said.
“Here’s a guy who in my opinion is one of the best hitters in the National League – we know he is going to get 185 or 190 hits – and came into today really struggling,” Collins said. “Hopefully he’s breaking out of it.”
While Murphy’s performance on offense was promising, he made a costly error in the field. Murphy botched a potential double play with runners on the corners and no outs during the 4th inning.
“It was a bad play – there’s no other way to say it,” he said.
Thoughts:
With top prospect Dilson Herrera tearing up Triple-A, could the Mets look to trade Murphy?
While Murphy is a solid hitter for his position, his instincts and poor defensive skills are significant issues.
Mistakes like the one he made yesterday are happening far too often, and he is rated as one of the worst fielding second basemen in the league.
Murphy made 15 errors last year and had a -1.0 DWAR according to ESPN.
However, despite Murphy’s flaws, he is the Mets’ best option at the moment .
Herrera may be the second baseman of the future, however he is still very young and inexperienced.
Is it unrealistic to expect him to step in immediately and provide an upgrade over Murphy, who has a career .287 average with a .747 OPS?
What say ye?
