Jim Murphy: The Next Darin Ruf?

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 Hey, it’s Joe again. Sorry for the hiatus between articles, as I’ve been pretty busy.

             By now, I’m assuming all followers of the Phillies’ farm system have noticed Jim Murphy’s exceptional start: 75 AB .360 AVG .400 OBP .587 SLUG 3 HR and 1 SB for good measure. Obviously, his good start could be a fluke, but what if there’s a chance of him having a Darin Ruf-type season?

             If you look at it, the similarities are eerie. Both had raked in Clearwater before they came to Reading, even having the same number of homers for Clearwater (17). Their batting averages and on-base percentages were somewhat similar too, with Ruf (.308/.388) and Murphy (.274/.355) getting on base at a good rate.

             Now, onto Murphy’s current season- will he really do as well as Darin Ruf did in Reading? I’m not sure he’ll be as good as Darin Ruf was, but he’ll come close. With Murphy already having totaled 17 homers last season in Clearwater, which is pitcher-friendly, it would be safe to expect his homer total to go up. Considering his raw power and his body type (6’4”, 240 pounds) I wouldn’t bet against 30, if not more.

             The aspect of Ruf’s season that I don’t see Murphy as likely to repeat is the average/obp. Ruf hit .317 with a .408 OBP last year in Reading, which is pretty good by all standards. Meanwhile, I’d expect Murphy to hit .290 this year in a best-case scenario.

             One obvious problem with Murphy’s possible emergence: organizational depth at first base. If I’m not mistaken, Howard, Ruf, and Nix are ahead of him on the organizational depth chart. Hypothetically, if Murphy emerged and Ruf regressed, he might pass him on the depth chart. But what about Nix, let alone Howard and his albatross contract?

            This is purely speculative, but I’d think that Murphy probably makes Darin Ruf look like a gold-glover in the outfield. He’s really not much of an athlete, as the 240-pounder has a grand total of 5 career stolen bases.

            If Murphy emerges, and it’s still a huge if, my best suggestion would be to send him to an AL team looking for a cheap slugging 1B/DH. But remember, it’s still an if, although a Ruf-esque season would be pretty nice.

  All constructive criticism is much appreciated.

15 thoughts on “Jim Murphy: The Next Darin Ruf?”

  1. In Reading everybody hits. I wouldn’t use a year in Reading as a barometer of anything. The test would be AAA. Reading makes hitters feel good (It also shows that Biddle is having a great year so far). Murphy is an organizational player. He has done everything they have asked of him, but his liabilities make him a AAAA player. As they say, he is stuck at first base. He will have to rake and homer into the mid-thirties to merit attention and even then it would be more of a tease.

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    1. I agree with what you say. But what happens if Maikel Franco goes to Reading this year or next and tears it up? Should we not be excited because ” everybody hits in Reading” ???

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  2. Ruf was old for Reading at 25. Murphy is a ridiculous 27. In the last half dozen or so years, we have had gushes of excitement just about every season about the over-aged college guy at Reading, who can play D but hits a ton. We’ve had Slayden, Rizzotti, Susdorf, Ruf, and now Murphy. I’ve done my share of falling for the hype, especially regarding Ruf. And there is still hope for Ruf, although he blew his chance in ST and is just beginning to hit in Allentown. On Slayden, Rizzotti, Susdorf — nope, not going to make it. Neither is Murphy going to sprint from Reading at age 27 to a role as a major league starting player. I’m going back to just thinking of these guys as organizational bats to give the pitchers a halfway decent chance at a winning record in AA. We were spoiled by Howard. He was the exception and, as many predicted, he aged out pretty quickly in the majors. Age 27 at AA. Think about it!

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    1. On the other side of the coin, what does it say that Zach Collier can’t cross the Mendoza line at Reading.

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  5. I think one can make the case that some of these kind of guys, if given a major league chance, might contribute some value to a major league team. Murphy less likely so than some of them.

    The fact is that they don’t get shots, even in the American league. DHs tend mostly to be veterans who are still good hitters but can’t play the field very well any more. (There is really only one DH this season that is a significant counter example, and he plays (poorly) for the Astros).

    Mind you, the reason these guys don’t get shots is not a bad reason: at any given time there are plenty of prospects who MIGHT succeed if given the chance. But there are only so many major league jobs to go around, and teams are going to go with either players who have proven that they can contribute to a major league team, or with the brightest prospects. And players just reaching AA in their mid 20s with limited defensive skills, even if they can hit a bit, generally do not fit that bill.

    My favorite of these types of guys is Tagg Bozied. Of course he had his season as a slugger in Reading at the age of 30. But he might have been the most talented of this group (his career was derailed earlier by injury.

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  6. I like Murph; good organizational filler. I would expect his Reading numbers to compare more favorable with Rizzotti’s age-25 season in 2011 than Ruf’s age-25 in 2012.

    Murph will turn 28 before the MLB season ends. If everything works absolutely perfectly for him, perhaps he gets a cup of coffee in the bigs. If I had to place odds though I’d suspect he doesn’t get beyond AA; perhaps a reserve or one-year starter at AAA (he might not even be in the org next year)

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  7. Don’t see it at all. Murphy’s older, has repeated years, and his numbers over his career have been much worse. Look at their K-rates and BB-rates.

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  8. Just saw a player on the Mets the other day that was 15 years in the Farm System before making it to the bigs. He was 33 years old. If you have the talent late 20’s early 30’s isn’t all that old.

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  9. It’s interesting to note that after his first two years in the organization, which were solid, he struggled his third year in Clearwater. Then, instead of having him repeat the level, the team sent him back to Lakewood the following year. That should tell everyone what the Phillies thought of Murph as a prospect. As others have said, he’s considerably older than Darin Ruf, and there were justifiable concerns that he was too old for Reading too. Larry mentioned him above, but Tagg Bozied is the guy I thought of too. Murphy is closer to being Tagg Bozied than Ruf.

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