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DENVER — Yesterday, the Colorado Rockies promoted catcher Tom Murphy who saw 11 games at the MLB level but has been stuck in Triple-A while Nick Hundley and Tony Wolters held down the catcher position in the Bigs.
Jeff Bridich pointed out to BSN Denver before the 2016 season that the club wanted Murphy to work on some specific things, and the newest member of the MLB catching platoon says he has done just that.
“I identified some mechanical issues that were going on,” Murphy says. “Me and G-Hill [Glenallen Hill, the Triple-A manager] identified what we needed to do to fix those things and I just became vigilant with it every day and I knew what I needed to do to succeed, to add some more adjustability in my swing, and made it happen.”
Murphy “made it happen” to the tune of slashing .400/.449/.726 with eight home runs in the 36 games since the All-Star break.
Murphy hasn’t just grown on the offensive side though.
“It’s hard to tap one thing,” Murphy says about where he has focused on his development. “But much more consistency, I’d say, is the biggest thing, especially behind the plate. I feel like I had a great year defensively and really helped my pitchers at the Triple-A level.”
Some of those pitchers, between this year and last, are now familiar names to those who follow just the MLB club and that familiarity is also a big chip in Murphy’s pile.
“That comfortability between the pitcher and catcher is huge every game,” he says. “[Jeff] Hoffman and I just had a conversation in the bullpen about some of his previous starts, what I probably would have done, what he could do better, and if I’m catcher next time what he wants to happen. We’ll continue the stuff we worked on at the Triple-A level because his stuff plays no matter what level.”
Of course, Murphy played in 11 games at the highest level last season and he says that could play in his favor as well.
“Yeah, I mean, coming here today I feel pretty comfortable,” he says. “I know the routine and the schedule, and that’s probably the hardest part of getting in. You get all these scouting reports and you have all these meetings and stuff, you don’t really know what to expect your first time. But now I have that experience and it’s not my first transition?”
Manager Walt Weiss says he will try to work Murphy and Raimel Tapia — who was also promoted yesterday — into the lineup in a way that best helps the team win through the end of the season.
“I don’t have an exact plan, a specific plan, of how I’m going to use them,” he says. “I know especially Murphy is going to get some time. Tapia’s a nice weapon to have off the bench. Our outfielder situation’s pretty crowded with left-handed hitting outfielders, but both guys have had a tremendous season so certainly want to get a look at them. But like I said, I think both those guys can help us win games and that’s the bottom line.”
