As a longtime Daniel Murphy fan, it was great fun to see that he’s signed a contract with the Long Island Ducks, where he’ll play with Ruben Tejada and be managed by Wally Backman. Murphy sounds like he wants another shot at the majors. While I wouldn’t bet on that happening, it’s fun to think about. Injuries kept him from having a longer career. He’ll turn 38 on April 1.
Of course, Murphy is the blueprint for what I hope will happen with Jeff McNeil. Murphy used to be content to flick the ball the other way for a single. And then he learned to turn on the ball and upped his OPS+ by 40 points. If only he didn’t wait until the tail-end of his age-30 season to make the transformation.
McNeil will be in his age-31 season in 2023. He’s a better overall player than Murphy was before the power surge. My opinion is that he would be a better player than Murphy if he turned on the ball more, too. Murphy had a .595 SLG in 2016, a season in which he set his personal best with a .348 BABIP, 30 points above his career mark in the category. McNeil had a .353 BABIP last year and has a lifetime .332 mark. He has a higher base than Murphy. Just imagine if he had an ISO in the ballpark of Murphy’s .249 in 2016, rather than the .128 ISO he had in 2022.
Agree! With no shift !McNeil will opt to go for more power. Shorter fences, I think he’ll hit fifth and hit 20+ HRs.
Did I miss it? When is the annual prediction contest? I want to be able to gloat about several I made last year that I nailed including McNeil winning the batting title, and the Mets not blowing a single game when leading going into the 9th inning (also Nimmo games played, Nido playing more than McCann, and 1/2 credit for Degrom leaving the team).