Listen in for a quick chat with potential Mets second baseman Daniel 'Irish Hammer' Murphy. We discussed his knee, my knee, his take on this camp compared to last year and more! Click 'Play' below to listen.
Read beyond the break for the transcript of the interview.
Rob: So how has spring been going for you so far?
Murphy: Really well. It's a good camp. I feel like there's a lot of energy here. A lot of excitement to get the season started. It's a hard-working camp.
Rob: How would you compare this camp to camps in the past?
Murphy: A little different philosophy at the top. Jerry was a little bit more laid back, I think Terry's a little bit more energetic, enthusiastic and it's going real well with the players.
Rob: Ok well as I'm talking to you right now you're taking off your knee brace, how's that feeling?
Murphy: It feels good, how's yours?
Rob: It feels great, although I wasn't slid into last year. How was that at the time? I mean I saw the play and from my vantage point it looked a bit like a dirty slide but what'd you think?
Murphy: I wasn't in the greatest position to protect myself so I use that as motivation to prepare myself this offseason every time I turn a double play to make sure I'm in a position to protect myself.
Rob: So that's been coming along, you footwork around the bag, positioning, that sort of thing?
Murphy: I feel like it. Even that double play I turned in Buffalo I had guys tell me it was a good double play turn but he just came and got me. But you know I learned from it.
Rob: As far as working at second base with some of the other guys, obviously you're working with Emaus a lot right now, Castillo, how's all that been going?
Murphy: It's going really well. I think we're all very encouraging of each other. I know Emaus and myself...we each make a good play and we let each other know about it, and Luis has been the same way. At the end of the day it's about winning ball games and we gotta find the best 25 guys to help us win a pennant over the course of a long season.
Rob: One more, obviously you've been working a lot with Chip Hale the infield guy, how's he been?
Murphy: Really good, really good. He also brings a whole bunch of energy and a lot of knowledge. I'm trying to soak up as much as I can to shorten the learning curve at second base.