No more OF for Murphy

Manuel suggested placing Murphy in left field might have been a mistake and said his days in the outfield are over for now. He suggested Murphy was relieved by the news.

"His reaction, it surprised me," Manuel said. "He just lit up, had a big smile. I spoke with (outfield coach) Razor (Shines) about it and he said, ‘Oh yeah, he’s like a kid with a new toy.’ Whereas I’m like, ‘I’m scared to death. If he can’t catch it out there, how’s he going to catch it in here?’"

-Rubin

over 2 years ago supermets 18 comments 0 recs |

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Was just about to post this -- Lennon had it, also

I’m inclined to say I really don’t like this. Guess we’ll figure out if he’s the future at 1B.

by jasondg on May 20, 2009 9:01 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah this is kind of bizarre

Why handle it like this? If he was so much more comfortable as an infielder, isn’t it the manager’s job to recognize that? If so, why so against using him there until now? And now that this has happened, why publicly rule him out as an outfielder? You spent all this time getting him to learn the position, seems like kind of a waste to say “nah, we’re just not gonna do that anymore” after all that. What happens when Delgado comes back? Is Murphy then relegated to Utility duties?

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 20, 2009 9:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, very strange for a few reasons

What if he sucks at 1B? There’s no way they can move him back to OF without there being a mild to large uproar after hearing Daniel “Means Business” Murphy was like a kid with the Golden Ticket upon hearing this news.

The soap opera continues.

by James Kannengieser on May 20, 2009 9:16 PM EDT up reply actions

The mets make my head hurt

It seems like there’s no discussion between the front office and Jerry some days. Is Jerry making this decision by himself? Is it a joint decision? Are they gonna put him back in lf when Delgado comes back? Is Delgado coming back? Is Pagan/Tatis/Sheffield our new everyday outfielder?

by Gina on May 20, 2009 9:10 PM EDT reply actions

Of course! Because his range wasn't improving or anything, and it's absolutely positive he has the bat to hold down a starting job at first.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 20, 2009 9:33 PM EDT reply actions

His range

isn’t the problem. It’s the fact that you get afraid when there is a simple fly ball to LF. And the hitting expectations at 1B aren’t that different from the expectations in LF.

by supermets on May 20, 2009 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't mind the move.

I just don’t think you should say his days in LF are over, considering how much he was improving defensively.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on May 20, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd disagree. The hitting expectations are much higher at first.

by Gina on May 20, 2009 9:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Plus I don't think many people were expecting him to be more than average in lf overall

A bat right at or below average and defense slightly above average. Unless his defense at first is insane that would make him a below average first basemen.

by Gina on May 20, 2009 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm not sure if this is AL/NL or overall

But from BP last year the average first basemen opsed 864, the average lf opsed .788. That’s a pretty significant difference.

by Gina on May 20, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Bigger difference than I thought

so I guess I’m wrong. But I still can’t trust him in LF, at least this year.

by supermets on May 20, 2009 10:05 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually I added it wrong

plus that was overall for the NL the difference is like .50 points. Which is still major but not as insane.

Plus it’s not like we have better options defensively in leftield, who it would be worth playing every day. We could play Reed/Pagan in lf everyday but does anyone want their bats in the line up that consistently?

by Gina on May 20, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

the fact that some fans subjectively can't trust him

is no basis to be making lineup decisions on

by JoshNY on May 21, 2009 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions

no

but if the manager can’t trust him, that is a basis to make a lineup decision on. And it sounds like Jerry didn’t trust him. Murphy was a shaky outfielder, regardless of what UZR says, and I don’t blame Jerry for not being totally comfortable with him out there. He looked good at first last night, so I’m ok with this move for now.

by cjmulrain on May 21, 2009 12:59 PM EDT up reply actions

But the problem is it's not like Sheffield is a defensive whiz.

And Murphy is young and will likely improve. And the only guys we have better defensively are awful offensively, Pagan and Reed, so there’s really nothing gained in playing them over Murphy.

by Gina on May 21, 2009 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Also I think the issue with UZR and outfielders

Is that so many flyballs get hit into outfield, especially one as ridiculous as ours that people take for granted how often outfielders don’t turn them into outs. So it may seem like a bunch of the flyballs Murphy gets to are routine plays but often times guy like Sheffield/Dye don’t get anywhere near those balls, and for whatever reason broadcaster seem to have no concept of range so they don’t ever being it up when guys don’t get near balls.

Basically I think Murphy’s UZR seems to disagree so much with people’s eyes is because when someone else is out there not catching some of the balls he does no one seems to notice. But when he bobbles a ball, or we have to watch him throw which is just painful because of how weak his arm is, it’s painfully obvious.

by Gina on May 21, 2009 1:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Also i think people sometimes forget

That UZR isn’t really compared to 0 but compared to the average left fielder, I believe, and that Murphy being +3 doesn’t neccessarily mean he’s a masterful fielder, it could just mean there’s a lot of awful left fielders, like your Patt Burrels and your Adam Dunns, your Jason Bays, Man-Ram. Which is seems likely since teams seem to put their all hit/no field hitters either there or 1st base.

by Gina on May 21, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree plus

Empirical evidence confirms most of what UZR has told us about Murphy. To the naked eye, his range is pretty good, judging how he’s seemingly in position to make most kinds of plays; his arm has been a liability because he’s still figuring out which base he should be throwing to; he’s prone to dropping certain kinds of batted balls, resulting in three hilarious blunders on live drives and one dropped fly ball. (By the way, isn’t it time they forgive that one already? Delgado dropped a pop up. Sheff dropped a fly ball in the clear evening sky.)

by All Shook Down on May 21, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions