Thoughts on Daniel Murphy's Retirement From Baseball

Yesterday, Daniel Murphy announced he would retire after 12 big league seasons the last two of which were spent in a Colorado Rockies uniform.

The bulk of Murphy's career would be spent with the New York Mets uniform. The team drafted the Jacksonville native in the 13th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. Murphy would make his MLB debut in 2008. He would miss the entire 2010 season when he tore his MCL. He would have a recurrence of the same injury late the following season. Starting in 2012, Murphy began to play second base. He began as a third baseman but the presence of David Wright ruled that out so he had been moved to the outfield in the interim. 

Murphy made his breakthrough during the 2015 post-season when he set a MLB record by hitting HRs in six consecutive games. He would earn the NLCS MVP hitting .529 with 4 HR and 6 RBI. He also hit 3 HR and 5 RBI in the NLDS. Although Murphy would only go 3 for 20 as the Mets fell to the Kansas City Royals in five games in the World Series, his post-season performance was sufficient to overshadow his statements objecting to the "lifestyle" of LGBTQ persons earlier that year.

On the strength of his 2015 post-season, Murphy signed a 3-year, $37.5 million contract with the NL East rival Washington Nationals. Murphy would enjoy his finest season in 2016 finishing second in NL MVP balloting behind Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs. He hit .347 finishing a point behind DJ LeMahieu of the Colorado Rockies for the NL batting title and also had career highs in HR (25) and RBI (104). Murphy also led the NL in doubles (47), slugging percentage (.595) and OPS (.985). In 2017, Murphy hit .322 finishing second in the NL batting race to another member of the Rockies - this time Charlie Blackmon. Murphy again led the NL in doubles with 43.

The Nationals would trade Murphy to the Chicago Cubs in the stretch drive in 2018 before signing with the Rockies in 2019. In 40 games during the COVID shortened MLB season in 2020, Murphy struggled at the plate hitting .236 with 3 HR and 16 RBI. Murphy, 35, finishes his big league career with 1572 hits for a lifetime batting average of .296 with 138 HR and 735 RBI in 1452 games. 

I leave you with Murphy's post-season highlights in 2015 with the NL champion New York Mets.