With timing down, Murphy clocks one
NEW YORK -- David Murphy led off the first game of yesterday's day-night doubleheader by slamming a Jaret Wright fastball into the right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium for his first major league home run. Tall, lanky, and with a sweet swing, Murphy, the Red Sox' first selection in the 2003 draft, had waited a long time for this.
In the nightcap, he attempted a diving catch of Jorge Posada's sinking liner to the left-field corner in the sixth inning, allowing a pair of runs to score. Ah, the ups and downs of a rookie prospect.
Murphy is one of those late-arriving first-round picks. He was at Baylor University when Sox scouting director David Chadd chose him first (17th overall). Boston took Georgia Tech outfielder Matt Murton later in the first round.
Murton was used as a chip in the Nomar Garciaparra deal at the trade deadline two years ago, and he's spent most of the last two seasons with the Cubs while Murphy has been stuck in the minors, trying to find that breakthrough moment.
A 6-foot-2-inch outfielder with good range and a strong arm, he often has experienced major slumps, but just as quickly he'll carry his team for a few weeks. One thing he didn't need to have happen, happened -- he was injured much of the 2004 season, holding him back even more.
It's consistency that has been missing with Murphy; Double A center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury has it, enabling him to vault to the head of the Sox' prospect class.
But maybe Murphy, a personable, talented young man who will turn 25 Oct. 18, will emerge as every bit the player Chadd envisioned in that June draft.
``I can relate to it," said Trot Nixon, who was a first-round pick in the 1993 draft (seventh overall the same year Alex Rodriguez was drafted No. 1 by the Mariners) and spent a few years in the minors amid whispers that maybe he wasn't as good as everyone thought.
``I never felt or heard that I was taking too long or anything like that, but I came out [after] high school and it's gonna take longer," he said. ``The one thing a kid like David can't and shouldn't do is look around and see guys that he came up with or was drafted with going up to the big leagues and having success and then doubting himself.
``From what I've seen of him, he's a very smart, very talented player with a lot of tools, and I think he's going to make an impact."
The '03 draft produced Lastings Milledge, Brandon Wood, Nick Markakis, Chad Cordero, and Rickey Weeks.
When one thinks of it in that context, Murphy hasn't measured up, but the journey isn't over.
``I think I've gotten better every year as a professional," said Murphy, who hit .273 with 17 doubles in 42 games at Double A Portland and .267 with 23 doubles, 5 triples, 8 home runs, and 44 RBIs in 84 games at Pawtucket this year. ``Some guys make the transition smoothly. It hasn't been as smooth for me. I think I'll continue to get better. But I think from here on in, it's what I have within me to get better. We'll see from here, obviously. The future is unknown, but I know I'll work hard every single day to be able to get up and stick."
``Obviously, I'm up here now and I want to make the most of all the playing time I get," Murphy added. ``I was a top pick, and you always want to make sure you justify being that and make the guy who drafted you look good and reinforce that pick for him. I wish I could have made it sooner, but I haven't, for many reasons. I can't look back. I can only try to impress them enough to be able to play up here."
Murphy's best position is center field, but he knows there's Coco Crisp in front of him and Ellsbury coming up strong behind him and he might be best served playing several positions. In Game 2 last night, he started in left field and batted seventh. He also has started in right field. The Sox are looking at him as a possible extra outfielder, a defensive replacement initially. But who knows where Murphy can take it after that? There are players who perform better in the majors than they did in the minors. Can you say Carlton Fisk?
``I think it's a gradual process of just proving you can play at every level," Nixon said. ``Once you get to there, you have to learn the big league life and all it entails and facing top pitchers every night. You make your adjustments. The quicker you make them, the faster it's going to be for you to solidify your spot.
``It's one of those things that you have to take advantage of your opportunity."
Murphy knows he has first-round talent. What will trigger it? That's the great unknown. He's a dangerous player to part with in a deal because he could come back to haunt you.
The Sox' Carlos Peña, too, knows all about expectations. He made it for a while as a No. 1 pick of the Texas Rangers in 1998, and after a couple of good years with the Tigers found himself back in Triple A and is now struggling to find a spot on a major league roster again.
Murphy wants to make sure that once he gets to the bigs, he stays. And so his break-in period is right now. Maybe one can't completely evaluate a player in September, but when you're hitting leadoff homers against the Yankees, a team that's capable of winning it all, pat yourself on the back because you've accomplished something.
``The last few days have allowed me to get the jitters out, and the more I play, the more I'll be able to get into more of a comfort zone," Murphy said.
``It's a bigger stage, but the game is the same. Obviously, the pitchers have better stuff, and they throw strikes, which is why they're up in the big leagues, but I'm here for a reason, too, and it's just one of those things where I have to learn to hit big league pitching."
He's soaked in everything about his first month in the big leagues. His first hit (off Toronto's A.J. Burnett in his first major league at-bat Sept. 1). His first home run. His first time at Yankee Stadium. As he rounded the bases, he thought to himself, ``Oh, gosh, I hit a home run."
He knows he must get over the novelty of it all quickly.
That oh-so-rapid clock that No. 1 picks are on is moving faster now, and Murphy needs to deliver before the alarm rings.
(Correction: Because of a reporting error, the list of players selected in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft was incorrect in the On Baseball column about Red Sox outfielder David Murphy in yesterday's Sports section. Lastings Milledge, Brandon Wood, Nick Markakis, Chad Cordero, and Rickie Weeks were the players drafted in 2003. In addition, the names of Weeks and Travis Hafner were misspelled.)
