We examine whether or not Daniel Murphy should be one of the options for Dusty Baker in the leadoff spot of the order.
Down in Spring Training today at Lakeland, manager Dusty Baker gave the media some of his options for the leadoff hitter of the Washington Nationals if/when the new center fielder, Ben Revere, needs a day off. Some of the names Baker gave weren’t a shock, but there was one player that stood out as an alternative leadoff option, Daniel Murphy:
Dusty said if Ben Revere is off potential leadoff options are Michael A. Taylor, Jayson Werth & perhaps Daniel Murphy. Depends on pitcher.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) March 20, 2016
During Murphy’s seven seasons with the New York Mets, he only hit leadoff in 12 career games with seven of those games coming in 2014 (according to Baseball Reference). Now, one thing to consider is Murphy wasn’t needed as a leadoff hitter with the Mets because he played on teams with Curtis Granderson, Angel Pagan, and Jose Reyes.
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While Murphy doesn’t have much leadoff experience, he does have good numbers when he leads off an inning. In those situations, he is a career .304 hitter and he has a .348 on-base percentage. Even though those are strong numbers and Murphy is a good doubles hitter, which would give the other Nats hitters more opportunities with men in scoring position, I would rather see Baker go with other options when the speedy Revere needs a day off.
Baker mentioned Michael Taylor and Jayson Werth, but what about Anthony Rendon? Rendon is a hitter who can get on-base at a consistent rate (.351 on-base percentage in 2014) and work the count of the opposing pitcher right out of the gate.
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As has been seen this spring training, the Nationals are going with an aggressive approach on the bases, which could mean a high amount of stolen bases. The Nats have stolen 25 bases this spring. While Murphy stole 23 bases in 2013 (second on the Mets behind Eric Young Jr.), he has only stolen a combined 15 bases in 2014-15 with two of those coming last season.
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All things being considered, Murphy wouldn’t be a bad leadoff option, but I think there are options Baker can go to before using Murphy, whether it is Taylor, Werth, or Rendon. But, considering Murphy’s ability to steal bases and get on-base, it wouldn’t be a bad option for Baker to try out once in a while.