Does Daniel Murphy Have Fantasy Usability?

As we headed into 2009 Daniel Murphy was considered the golden boy of the New York Mets.  It was like he could do nothing wrong.  He was going to be the perfect fit hitting second in the Mets order and obviously would be able to handle the LF duties.

With a home run on Opening Day, everything seemed to be falling into place perfectly.  The pretty little picture was set, but since then the bloom has certainly come off the rose.

While Carlos Degado’s injury could open up a consistent line-up spot for Murphy if he proves capable of handling 1B (didn’t we hear the same thing about him and 2B in the off season), the Mets currently no longer use him on a daily basis.  If you’ve watched the team play, you fully know why.

How many errors can on outfielder make before we face the facts that he is not capable of handling the position?  If it were just throwing errors, that’s something that could be understandable.  Wild throws happen to everyone.  It’s a part of life. 

Murphy’s problem, however, is the inability to catch a routine fly ball.  Flat out, that is something that is completely unacceptable unless you are the most elite of hitters.  Even then, it’s a stretch.

Before we get into his bat, let me just say that I know his defense plays no real factor in fantasy baseball.  It has no impact on standings, but if a player can’t field his position he’s liable to find himself on the bench more often then not.  Once that happens, his value for fantasy owners quickly diminishes.

As for his bat, exactly what does he bring to the table?  He has shown very little pop, with just eight extra base hits thus far this season.  It is not like he is piling on the doubles and we are hoping that some of those start flying over the wall.

He actually set his career high in home runs last season with a grand total of 15.  Again, there is no sign there to let me believe that he’s going to make any sort of impact there.

Granted, at 24-years old he could still be developing his power stroke.  He does hit a moderate amount of balls in the air, currently at 38.6 percent (through Tuesday).  Could he improve on his 7.7 percent HR/FB rate? 

Yeah, he certainly could, but I don’t see the sudden jump from 15 to 30 coming.  Given the lack of glove he’s shown, he doesn’t have the immediate power potential to justify consistent playing time for the Mets.

Does he have the bat to be an elite average hitter?  Possibly in time, but not this season.  Not in 2009.  His career minor league average was .290 over 957 AB, certainly not a number that instills grand hopes.

Before you point to his .313 average in 131 at bats for the Mets last season, keep in mind that it came courtesy of an unrealistic .386 BABIP.  Let’s not hold out hope for that to continue.

Over his minor league career he’s struck out just 116 times (12.12 percent) vs. 94 walks (8.94 percent).  That’s a great ratio and it is something that you have to like to see, but it just isn’t enough to convince me.

Maybe it’s just because my girlfriend recently fell in love with Murphy, wanting to get his t-shirt (just as she did with Billy Wagner last season), but Murphy’s stock has plummeted in recent weeks.  He has not shown the growth with the bat and his true lack of position is taking its toll.

Without Delgado, the Mets have turned to Gary Sheffield, only making Murphy’s potential playing team even less of a guarantee. Even if he sees steady time at 1B, does his bat translate as a solid option there for fantasy owners?  I surely don’t think so.

If you haven’t already done so, the time has come to shift him to the bench and use another option in a starting role.  He just does not have the offensive upside, or the guaranteed playing time, to be a useful player.  If you want stash him on your bench, just in case, that’s fine, but he should not be in your starting line-up.

What does everyone else think?  Is anyone holding out hope?

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