Daniel Murphy has announced his retirement on Friday after 12 great seasons in the big leagues. Seven of those years came with the New York Mets, and he carried them to a 2015 National League Pennant. Here is a look at Murphy’s time wearing the blue and orange.
Daniel Murphy holds the record for most consecutive postseason games (6) with a HR. pic.twitter.com/nICPCwZQtH
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) January 29, 2021
Murphy was a 13th round pick by the Mets in 2006 and made MLB his debut in the 2008 season. As a rookie, he became impossible to remove from the lineup. Murphy batted .313/.397/.473 over 55 games while playing at a new position in left field. He came up through the ranks as a natural third baseman, but David Wright’s presence forced the Mets to move him around.
The left-field experiment was a failure, and Murphy moved to first base when Carlos Delgado got injured in 2009. Murphy did not duplicate his rookie season production but led the team with 12 home runs. A flurry of leg injuries forced Murphy to miss the entire 2010 season and ended his 2011 season early. Murphy finished 2011 with the third-highest average in the NL but did not have enough at-bats to qualify for the league lead.
Full-Time Second BasemanĂ‚Â
In 2012, the Mets moved Murphy to second base full-time. Murphy’s defense needed plenty of work, but it gradually improved each season. For 2012-15, Murphy slashed .287/.326/.416 and averaged 38 doubles. Murphy also earned his first All-Star appearance during the 2014 season.
The 2015 postseason put Murphy on immortal levels among postseason heroes. In the NLDS and NLCS, Murphy batted .421 with seven home runs and had one in six consecutive games. Murphy did not carry his NLCS MVP numbers to the World Series and moved on to the Washington Nationals after the season. The Mets could have done more to keep Murphy, but his MVP caliber numbers were unpredictable.
Murphy never got the proper send off to his career due to his injuries affecting his production. He finishes third in double and seventh in batting average on the all-time Mets lists. Murphy was always a hard-nosed player who provided a new generation of Mets fans with their lone postseason memories.