Yesterday Olney listed Murphy third on his top ten players to watch and for good reason. He talked about how everyone talks about Murphy's nack for hitting and how his swing looks really good. (On a side note, I got Murphy in the very last round of a 25 player draft last week and I am so glad. He's a back up OF and could move up to a starter) How serious is he taking it? He is featured in the Pop Culture Grid for Sports Illustrated and when he was asked about when not to disturb him he said hitting, because that is his job (how amazing does that sound). The other players around him said eating or sleeping. This kid has a really nice upside, and to think he was all but unknown before last Spring.
On another Dan Murphy note, it seems that Manuel made his decision to bat Murphy 2nd. At first I was against this only because I feel that Castillo does not add anything to the lineup if he is not batting 2nd but then I realized something else. Batting after Reyes and before either Wright or Beltran (depending on who bats third this year, lineup preview coming soon) Murphy is going to get a lot of good pitches to hit because pitchers are not going to want to mess with the rest of the lineup. This should inflate his stats a bit but also show the rest of the baseball world how could of a swing he has.
