WASHINGTON -- To quote Ice Cube, it was a good day for Daniel Murphy. Again.
The Washington Nationals slugger led his squad to a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday with a 10th-inning, walk-off double down the left-field line that drove in a headfirst-sliding Bryce Harper all the way from first. It was Murphy’s second hit of the day, giving him seven multi-hit outings already, most in the majors. It also extended his hitting streak to an MLB-best 10 games. As if that weren’t enough, it was Daniel Murphy Bobblehead Day in D.C. For Washington’s cleanup hitter, big days like that are starting to become a case of wash, rinse, repeat.
“That guy’s special,” said pitcher Shawn Kelley, who picked up the win and combined with fellow relievers Koda Glover and Blake Treinen to toss three scoreless innings of one-hit ball. “He might do better than he did last year, which is hard to believe.”
Last year, fresh off a 2015 postseason where he set a major league record by homering in six consecutive games with the New York Mets, Murphy hit .347 (second in the National League). In his inaugural season in the District, he led the league in doubles, slugging and OPS, and finished second in the NL MVP voting behind Chicago’s Kris Bryant. This year, he has picked up right where he left off. And then some.
Granted, it’s early, but after Murphy served Philly closer Jeanmar Gomez's 1-1 slider into the left-field corner, his average was sitting at .444, best in the National League. His 20 hits and six doubles were also tops in the league, and had him on pace for an absurd 324 hits and 97 doubles, both of which would shatter existing records. Obviously, that won’t happen. What is happening is that Murphy’s performing as if this spring training was just any old spring training. But that was hardly the case.
Because he played for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, Murphy got only 30 at-bats in Grapefruit League action, or about half as many as teammates such as Harper and Adam Eaton got. In the WBC, where Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler got most of the playing time, Murphy recorded only six ABs. As such, the narrative was that Murphy, who hit just .200 during spring training, was supposed to be behind schedule. That he was poised for a cold start to the regular season. Instead, he’s hotter than that first bite of pizza that always burns the roof of your mouth and leaves that little string of tissue hanging down. Not that his teammates are the least bit surprised.
“You have all the faith in the world in him,” Harper said. “He gets the job done.”
He’s also starting to get Hall of Fame comparisons.
“I was reading an article on Murphy, and he said Tony Gwynn was his idol,” Nats manager Dusty Baker said. “Well, when a guy goes to the opposite field with authority, that’s hard to teach. That’s vintage Tony Gwynn.”
While most hitters dream of being as successful as the former Padres great, there’s at least one pitcher who aspires to be like Murphy.
“I want to be like him when I’m older,” Kelley joked at his locker, where Murphy’s figurine -- replica Silver Slugger bat and all -- was standing proudly behind him in one of the cubbies. Even though it’s the first time in his career he has been honored with a bobblehead, and even though it coincided with his 10th-inning heroics, Murphy was all business afterward.
“Not particularly,” said the habitually stoic 32-year-old when asked if hitting the winner on his giveaway day made it all the more meaningful. Then, in typical Murphy fashion, he went into full deflection mode. “It’s a great win. Stras [starter Stephen Strasburg] threw the ball great, then he hands it over to Koda and Blake and Kel. I know as an offense today, myself included, we kind of gave a couple at-bats away. Had a real big chance my fourth at-bat and grounded out. Great at-bats by Bryce. But it’s a great win. I thought Chris Heisey might’ve had the at-bat of the game. Works a walk, and Tony [Anthony Rendon] knocks him in to tie it up, and the bullpen was unbelievable tonight.”
Um, OK, Murph.
While all those things might be true, the sellout crowd of nearly 39,000 didn’t walk away thinking about the ABs Murphy gave away. Instead, they went home thinking about the one that gave Washington a W. What’s hard to fathom is that, as good as Murphy has been over the past 18 months, he didn’t have any walk-off hits during that stretch until Friday. In fact, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, this was just the third game-ender of his nine-year career. The last time the former Met walked a team off? Almost five years ago to the day (April 9, 2012), when he singled home the winning run for New York in the bottom of the ninth against ... the Washington Nationals.
Still, despite the relative rarity of the revelry, Murphy refused to indulge.
“It’s a good win,” he repeated, when asked what it felt like to go all Johnny Drama for the first time in five years. “Yeah. Good win. Try to do it again tomorrow.”
The way Murphy has been going, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he did.