SB Nation - David Murphy

Minor League Update -- 12/7/09

Ben Buchanan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:10:14 -0000

Columbian Winter League

Reynaldo Rodriguez: .280/.347/.440

-Numbers improving again.

Dominican Winter League

Jose Capellan: 0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K – 3.86 ERA, 8:21 K:BB, 1.76 WHIP

-Good god, it keeps getting worse!

Mexican Winter League

Robert Coello: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 3 BB, 6 K – 2.58 ERA, 43:21 K:BB, 1.16 WHIP

Puerto Rican Winter League

Aaron Bates: 6-17, 2 2B, 2 BB, 3 K -- .314/.385/.457

Ken Roque: 1-4, 2 K – .273/.273/.273

Venezuelan Winter League

Yeiper Castillo: .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 3.18 ERA, 6:8 K:BB, 1.50 WHIP

Leandro Marin: .1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K – 10.80 ERA, 4:3 K:BB, 2.40 WHIP

Casey Kelly Chooses Pitching

Jason McLeod Heads to San Diego

Red Sox Resign Kason Gabbard

Kason Gabbard is rejoining the Sox' minor league system per NESN's Neil Keefe. Gabbard suffered through a truly horrendous year where he could not find the strike zone, allowing 54 walks in just over 50 innings in the minors. Gabbard once seemed like a legitimate back-of-the-rotation starter, which is presumably what the Sox will be trying to get him back to.

Hey, if David Murphy doesn't get much better, the Gagne trade doesn't look quite as awful.

T.R. Sullivan mailbag up

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:28:05 -0000

T.R. Sullivan has a new mailbag column up...

A couple of items that jumped out...someone suggests trading David Murphy and Chris Davis for Curtis Granderson. Of course, that wouldn't get you close to getting a deal done...but then Sullivan suggests that if you are going to pay Granderson the $30 million he's due over the next four years, you'd be better off paying Marlon Byrd. The problem there, of course, is that Granderson is a much better player than Byrd, particularly defensively.

There's also a question about giving up Edwin Jackson, who Sullivan says would cost C.J. Wilson and Nelson Cruz or David Murphy. I wouldn't trade any of those three guys for Jackson straight up, personally. Edwin Jackson isn't that good.

Baseball Remains The Focus As NLCS Begins

Eric Stephen — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:00:24 -0000

More photos » by David J. Phillip - AP

The Kid gets the call for Game 1.

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One of the beauties of baseball is the daily grind, the unending test of wills. Off days can be excruciating, as we wait for our beloved game to return. We don't want to hear about owners potentially getting divorced, we don't want to read a lazy column still clinging to a false premise. In short, we don't want to talk about baseball; we want to watch baseball.

Today, we get that chance.

Clayton Kershaw continues his ascension to the top of the heap, as he gets the Game 1 start. At 21 years, 209 days old, Kershaw is the second youngest Dodger to start a game one, trailing only Fernando Valenzuela, who was 20 years, 339 days old when he started Game 1 of the 1981 NLCS.

Cole Hamels, 2008 postseason hero for the Phillies, gets the start for the Phillies, looking to continue his dominance of the Dodgers. Including the playoffs, Hamels has made six career starts against the Dodgers, and I see a disturbing trend:

Date	Result	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
8/12/08	LA 4-3	7.0	5	2	2	2	7	2.57	1.000
8/23/08	Phi 9-2	7.0	5	2	2	0	5	2.57	0.714
NLCS Gm 1	Phi 3-2	7.0	6	2	2	2	8	2.57	1.129
NLCS Gm 5	Phi 5-1	7.0	5	1	1	3	5	1.29	1.129
5/14/09	LA 5-3	7.0	7	2	1	1	9	1.29	1.129
6/4/09	Phi 3-0	9.0	5	0	0	0	5	0.00	0.556
Totals	Phi 4-2	44.0	33	9	8	8	39	1.64	0.932

Yikes. In each of his six starts against the Dodgers, Hamels has pitched at least seven innings, and has never given up more than two runs. The good news for the Dodgers is that: (a) they won two of those six games, and (b) they have Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw has given up three runs in only three of his 17 home starts this season, allowing a total of just 22 runs. Kershaw put up a 1.89 ERA and a 2.69 FIP at Dodger Stadium in 2009 so far. In short, Game 1 figures to be a low scoring affair.

In roster news, the only change for the Dodgers from the NLDS to the NLCS is that Hiroki Kuroda is on the roster, replacing Jon Garland. Chad Billingsley has been moved to the bullpen. For the Phillies, Eric Bruntlett and Old Friend Chan Ho Park are replacing Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick, according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News. Bruntlett (a Stanford alum) presumably was added to match the Dodgers' Brad Ausmus (Dartmouth) as the smart guy who can't hit.

[Update] - Scott Elbert made the NLCS roster over Jeff Weaver

Complete NLCS Roster:

Pitchers (11)	Infielders (8)	Outfielders (4)	Catchers (2)
Chad Billingsley, RHP	Casey Blake	Matt Kemp	Russell Martin
Clayton Kershaw, LHP	Orlando Hudson (S)	Juan Pierre (L)	Brad Ausmus
George Sherrill, LHP	Mark Loretta	Andre Ethier (L)
Hiroki Kuroda, RHP	James Loney (L)	Manny Ramirez
Hong-Chih Kuo, LHP	Juan Castro
Jonathan Broxton, RHP	Ronnie Belliard
Ramon Troncoso, RHP	Rafael Furcal (S)
Randy Wolf, LHP	Jim Thome (L)
Ronald Belisario, RHP
Scott Elbert, LHP
Vicente Padilla, RHP

Enough talk. It's time for baseball.

Game Time: 5:07pm

TV: TBS (Chip "Fisted" Caray, Ron Darling, Buck Martinez)

Baseball Reference Game One Preview

Wednesday morning Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:29:34 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

7 months ago: Texas Rangers third baseman Michael Young throws to first to get Los Angeles Angels' Torii Hunter out on an infield grounder in the fourth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 17, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Evan Grant has his grades for the outfielders up this morning, and Marlon Byrd gets an "A," while Nelson Cruz and David Murphy are both "B"s. It highlights the disconnect, I think, between what the team, and those that cover the team, perceive of Cruz's performance this year, and what those of us out in the interwebs think of Cruz (particularly in relation to the other outfielders on the team).

Grant also makes this rather salient point:

He's never had more trade value (due to his 33 homers), but if the Rangers deal him this winter, they are going to be looking for another right-handed hitter.

They probably are going to be looking for a right-handed hitter anyway, who can DH and backup at first base and the outfield corners until Justin Smoak is ready to come up. But if you move Cruz, it makes the need for a legit middle-of-the-order bat that much more important (unless you think a Borbon/Byrd/Murphy outfield is the sort of offensive threat that makes this team a contender).

Barry Horn writes that the Rangers were still near the bottom in TV ratings this year, but did show the second-highest percentage increase in ratings.

And Jeff Wilson reports that scout Mel Dider, special assistant Jay Robertson, and clubhouse manager Zack Minasian will not be coming back for 2010.

Didier has been in the game for over 60 years, and is a bit of a lightning rod because he was reportedly one of the biggest backers of acquiring Brandon McCarthy.

Cahill, aided by double plays, earns win #10

Flashfire — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:57:53 -0000

More photos » by Ben Margot - AP

It was a homer, really! They just don't call them that way once you get past Little League ball.

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It was one of those outings where you figure Trevor Cahill should have given up more than just one run, the sort where he's in trouble often and just waiting for that hit or two that leads to a big inning for the other side. The thing to remember is when you're a ground ball pitcher and someone's on base you're usually only one double play away from heading back to the dugout unscathed with the odds a little more in your favor than usual. Such was the case tonight and Daric Barton provided the offense early (with a little help from the Rangers "defense") before the A's opened it up big time in the 7th, winning 9-1.

In Cahill's 5 2/3 innings tonight (he was on a pitch count) he was able to get three of them. Two were of the conventional on-the-ground variety while one was a nice catch and throw from center by Rajai Davis. His first two innings were three up, three down affairs but he got the double plays in each of the middle innings. He was also pretty efficient in throwing 51 of his 79 pitches for strikes (65%) along with inducing 11 ground ball outs compared to 4 by air.

Once again he also avoided giving up the longball, though David Murphy came very close on a run-scoring double that hit the top of the jagged edge in right-center. There was some luck on his side tonight as most of the 6 hits and 2 walks he gave up came in four innings with just 1 strikeout overall but I see it as him making some of his own by keeping the ball down, pitching to his strengths.

Things got a little interesting in the bottom of the 1st when Adam Kennedy decided he was going to have a very short night as he argued a bad called strike three enough for Eric Cooper to give him the thumb. Of note was Bob Geren taking about half an hour to get out of the dugout but while Kennedy was right to be upset he didn't look like he'd be done with it until he got sent to the showers. Mission accomplished, but we were forced to endure eight innings of Bobby Crosby.

In the bottom of the 2nd Barton stepped to the plate with two away and Jack Cust on first after a walk. In one of those plays you really just have to see to believe, he hit a sinking liner to right that Nelson Cruz charged and dove for. Instead of letting it fall and keeping it to a two-out, two-on situation the ball got under his glove. Cust motored around to score as Barton reached third on a triple, but Ian Kinsler's relay throw got past Ivan Rodriguez to the backstop and Barton raced home as well, beating Brandon McCarthy's errant toss from near the on-deck circle. Out of all that, just one error was charged to Kinsler, which was about right.

Barton would come through again with two down in the 4th, singling to plate Ryan Sweeney. Cahill gave a run back in the 6th on the Murphy double before Marlon Byrd hit a fly ball to center. Davis made the catch and Murphy raced to third only to be tagged out by Bobby Crosby. Craig Breslow finished the inning and worked an uneventful 7th, then the A's really put it out of reach.

Leading off, Eric Patterson turned on a fastball away (yes, you read it right) for a double to right. Geren played it safe by having Crosby sacrifice Patterson to third but it quickly got out of hand for Willie Eyre. Davis singled, plating Patterson. Sweeney singled as Davis went to third. Kurt Suzuki and Cust both pulled doubles down the line, Suzuki's scoring two while Cust's brought Suzuki around. Mark Ellis singled in Cust and Eyre's night was done. Barton hit another ball solidly but this time it was a sharp liner right to Hank Blalock at first for an inning-ending double play.

The A's got one more in the 8th on a Davis strikeout, though he reached first on a wild pitch as Patterson trotted home after singling and advancing to third on a couple passed balls. Jerry Blevins and Brad Ziegler wrapped up the win that put Cahill into double figures days after Brett Anderson got there. After Kurt Suzuki dropped a foul pop by Kinsler, Ziegler's next and final pitch was a soft liner right back to him that led to an easy throw to Barton at first. Game over. A's win again, their eighth in the last nine. Yay!

Oh yeah. The Rajai Watch is now at .318 after a couple more hits. He did strike out three times.

Game 145 Recap: Mets 5, Braves 6

gondeee — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:46:15 -0000

More photos » by John Amis - AP

Atlanta Braves' David Ross scores the game-winning run on a error as New York Mets catcher Omir Santos waits for the throw in the ninth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 in Atlanta.

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Guess who didn't stay up for this one? (It was a two-hour rain delay.) Guess who missed a terrific comeback? We put together an improbable komeback against K-Rod to win the game in the ninth. Here's the scoop:

[Francisco Rodriguez], who entered to end the eighth inning with a strikeout of Martin Prado, encountered immediate ninth-inning trouble when his former Angels teammate Garret Anderson produced a leadoff single with the help of David Murphy, who wasn't hugging the first-base line.

Five batters later, after Omar Infante had delivered a game-tying sacrifice fly, Rodriguez found his evening further marred by [Ryan Church's] grounder that bounced over the first-base bag and ran up Murphy's arm. As the Mets first baseman again unsuccessfully attempted to secure the ball, David Ross raced from second base with the winning run.

If Ross had only had to slide, that would have been shades of Sid Bream coming around to score. To me, the big play was Infante coming through with a runner on third and less than two outs. So often we've scuffled in those situations.

Braves' starter Derek Lowe exited in the third inning with a blister on his right ring finger -- something that has crept up on him previously this season. Mike Gonzalez also exited the game with a "stiff back," or the new symptom of our bullpen, "Bobby Cox arm."

Nice win for Atlanta, too bad that everyone in front of us also won, but hey, you've got to keep pace. Perhaps it is the intention of the Braves to not lose a game for the rest of the year.

Wednesday a.m. Rangers things

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:06:17 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz reacts to striking out against Oakland Athletics relief pitcher Brad Ziegler in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday Sept. 15, 2009. The Ahtletics won 6-1. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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If this team isn't done, it is at least on life support.

There were two plays that jumped out at me last night, that seemed to epitomize the problems with the 2009 Rangers. The first was in the 4th inning, after the bloop off of Doug Mathis that David Murphy dove for and just missed. The next batter singled into center field, and with the runner from first going on contact with two outs, he was easily going to make it to third base. Marlon Byrd came up throwing, though, and as a result, the batter was able to advance to second base. Instead of runners on first and third, there were runners on second and third.

The second was in the bottom of the 5th. Texas had runners on second and third, and after Nelson Cruz popped out, David Murphy came up against the lefty Craig Breslow with two outs. Breslow got behind 3-0 on Murphy, but on the 3-0 pitch, Murphy swung and popped up to shallow center, ending the inning.

This team seems, to often, to have a tendency to play dumb baseball -- to, out of frustration or desperation, too often be overly aggressive in the field or at the plate, as if each player feels like he has to do everything himself. The Byrd play didn't ultimately make a difference in the game, and the Murphy 3-0 popup probably didn't, either...but those two plays seem to symbolize the problems this team has from the mental side of things.

Evan Grant notes that the Ranger offense has had chances in the past three games, when the team has scored a total of one run, but hasn't capitalized.

Jeff Wilson says yesterday was one of the team's worst games of the season, and it couldn't have come at a worse time.

Michael Young's return was intended to provide the team with a spark, but that didn't happen.

Gil LeBreton says the end is near for the 2009 Rangers.

Josh Hamilton won't be back in the lineup until this weekend, and Kevin Millwood won't be back on the mound until Monday, at the earliest, with Derek Holland getting the start on Sunday instead.

Meanwhile, Dustin Nippert is getting the start today.

Saturday morning Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:19:36 -0000

More photos » by Andy King - AP

3 months ago: Texas Rangers relief pitcher Pedro Strop throws in the eighth inning against the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Andy King)

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I couldn't watch the game last night. Our power went out at 6:30 last night, didn't come on until 1 a.m., then went out again at 5:30 this morning and has been out since. So I had to follow on my Blackberry.

However, the Gamecast thing on my Blackberry seemed to think that the called strike three that ended the game wasn't close to being a strike. That seemed to be the consensus from folks here who were commenting, as well.

And Jeff Wilson writes that David Murphy was sure he had a game-tying home run in the ninth, on his double that bounced off the top of the baggie in right field.

Evan Grant commends Tommy Hunter and Pedro Strop for shutting down the Twins after a three run first inning.

Wilson also has some injury updates on Marlon Byrd (who, it sounds like, won't be playing this weekend), Eddie Guardado, and Brandon McCarthy, who could be replacing Dustin Nippert in the rotation.

Ron Washington is going to throw out the first pitch today at the Metrodome, as the Twins have been honoring former players and team personnel in the Metrodome's last season.

The Angels have acquired Scott Kazmir, after having been rumored to have gotten him, then having reports coming out that said the deal was dead.

I know some folks are upset about what this does to the Rangers' chances in the A.L. West this year, but given that Texas is 5 games out with a month to go, I don't see that it makes much difference there. The Angels are rolling the dice that this has been an off-season for Kazmir, that he'll bounce back the next couple of years, when he's going to be making a significant amount of money. There seem to be some questions surrounding Kazmir's health and whether or not he's a reasonable bet going forward.

9 runs more than enough for win this time around, steamroll Rangers 9-2

CrazyYankeeChick — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:34:12 -0000

More photos » by John Froschauer - AP

O Captain, My Captain...

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Has Andy Pettitte pitched better or has our offense supported him more? It's like he's been the control in this "Evaluating the Efficacy of the Yankees System in a 162-game Period" experiment, and has acted as a barometer of how powerful this team has become, from top to bottom. He won his 3rd straight win tonight, but with a discernibly improved perfomance since his shaky start in Boston.

And on the subject of improvement, the Yankees collectively came back tonight after a crushing 10-9 loss on Tuesday, putting up the same number of runs but putting out a much different defensive performance, as well. One that held the Rangers' solid lineup to only 2 runs.

The game was looking eerily similar to last night when Posada went yard in the 2nd inning to stake the Yanks to a 3-0 lead. The Rangers weren't quite as successful in emulating last night's offensive binge. The bullet liners they had roped to every corner of the stadium were traded in for what seemed like one ground-into-DP after another (4, to be exact. But it seemed like more on account of 7 of the 31 ABs were strikeouts.)

As for the rest of the game:

If you go by the box score, David Murphy was the only one who played for Texas today. (Offensively, anyway. But in terms of defense, I'm pretty sure that Elvis Andrus kid may as well be Bugs Bunny.)

The Yanks spread their hits around, with Hideki Matsui putting up his standard [read: bordering on ridiculous] consistency, and is now 14 for his last 40 ABs with 18 RBIs in that time.

This has all been post-getting-his-knee-drained-of-fluid. Which makes me wonder what exactly this fluid was. It's like he just got rattlesnake poison syphoned out of him or something.

Robinson Cano, conversely, still hasn't driven in a run that wasn't himself. (I exagerrate, but 1/3 of his total ribbies from the season have been himself crossing that plate.)

I'd say he's earned a free pass or two, but it bears mentioning that Robbie has been delivering his fair share of Swisherisms on the field lately. Head not all there, fielding routiners with the same crispness and lucidity as a Real World confessional. But no move was more of a spot-on impression than getting picked off today, which meant Jerry Hairston Jr's subsequent bomb was a solo instead of a duo. A gaff that actually didn't, ultimately, "loom large" in the grand scheme of things, but semantics.

Brian "I sell my team's leads on ebay for cheap" Bruney characteristically loaded the bases when he came in for relief of Pettitte in the 8th. (Does he think that it won't count as a hold unless he puts half the lineup on base first? I'm serious.) Phil Hughes had been warming up, but the 5-run 7th put the kabosh on that idea. I know they're professional athletes and probably don't care, but I still feel a pang of sympathy for pitchers who have to experience the "Oh, nice, we got a huge cushion, we don't need our ace, we can just use whatshisface" ego-assaulter.

Derek Jeter inched closer to the all-time hit list leader, and it never really registered til tonight how mind boggling this is. He's 17 hits away from surpassing one of the greatest men to ever take the field. The sublime part is that it's in the midst of one of the most electric seasons I can remember watching.

And watching that stat flash on screen while the team was coming at their opponents like a firehose extinguishing a match...I admittedly got goosebumps about the Yankees franchise and their 2009 season.

-CYC

Marlon Byrd likely to leave via free agency

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:58:25 -0000

More photos » by ED ZURGA - AP

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The Rangers' crowded outfield situation has not changed in anyway over the course of the season, which could mean the end for impending free agent Marlon Byrd in Texas.

The team controls the contracts of Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, David Murphy and rookie Julio Borbon. Byrd's situation is different. He's making a little more than $3 million this year, which is a lot for a team that's watching every dollar.

Byrd is hitting .283 with 15 home runs and a .325 on-base percentage, 15 points below his career average. He is striking out more and walking less, but both home runs and RBIs are up.

Byrd will likely command 6-8 million dollars annually. The Giants would be a good fit for Byrd. The corner outfield spots are definitely up for grabs, and the Giants probably can't afford a huge contract. Taking a low cost chance on Byrd could really pay off for them.