Daniel Murphy

This tied 1977 as the season with the fewest home runs to lead a Mets team in franchise history.

Daniel Thomas Murphy (born April 1, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman and first baseman.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and Colorado Rockies.

While primarily a second baseman, he also played first base, third base, and left field.

As a junior in 2006, Murphy posted a .398 batting average en route to being named the A-Sun Baseball Player of the Year.

The New York Mets selected Murphy in the 13th round, with the 394th overall pick, of the 2006 MLB draft.

The first two months of Murphy's professional career were spent rehabilitating a knee injury he suffered late in his college career.

He spent the entire 2007 season with the High-A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League.

On April 9, he hit a walk-off single against the Nationals to give the Mets a 4–3 victory, and their first 4–0 start since 2007.

Murphy began the 2008 season with the Double-A Binghamton Mets.

On August 2, a day after being promoted to the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, the Mets left-handed reserve outfielder Marlon Anderson was placed on the disabled list, and Murphy was called up to the majors.

In his first major league at bat, against three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt, Murphy hit a single.

Later in the same game, he made a difficult catch against the left field wall, throwing out Hunter Pence at second base for a double play to end the inning.

As of August 9, 2008, Murphy was only the fifth Mets rookie to record 10 hits in his first 20 at bats.

Murphy hit his first home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Florida Marlins at Shea Stadium on August 9.

He finished the season batting .313, with two home runs and 17 runs batted in (RBIs).

Although he is a natural third baseman, Murphy began to play left field in 2008, and continued in 2009, due to the presence of David Wright on the Mets.

Murphy had a hard time transitioning to left field.

In May, Carlos Delgado underwent hip surgery and Murphy moved to first base.

Murphy led the Mets in home runs, with 12.

On March 30, 2010, Murphy hurt his knee in a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals in a rundown between third base and home plate.

On June 2, while playing second base for the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets' Triple-A affiliate, he suffered a "high-grade" MCL tear while trying to turn a double play.

Although surgery was not needed, he was expected to miss 4–6 months.

The following year, Murphy suffered a season-ending injury to his MCL on August 7, 2011 after a collision with the Atlanta Braves' José Constanza.

At the time of his season-ending injury, Murphy had the 3rd highest batting average in the National League.

However, Murphy did not have enough at-bats to qualify as a league leader at the conclusion of the 2011 season.

After going 352 at-bats since his last home run on July 16, 2011, Murphy hit two against the Cubs on June 27.

Murphy began the 2012 season as the Mets' starting second baseman after recovering from his MCL injury from 2011.

Murphy was named as the Mets nominee for the 2012 MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award, which was ultimately won by Mike Trout of the Angels.

Murphy had a strained muscle on his right side during spring training.

Murphy was an MLB All-Star in 2014, 2016, and 2017.

En route to leading the New York Mets to their fifth World Series appearance in franchise history, he won the National League Championship Series MVP Award in 2015, setting a record for consecutive postseason games with a home run with six.

Daniel Murphy was born in Jacksonville, Florida, to Tom and Sharon Murphy.

Murphy has a younger brother, Jonathan, and a sister, Tricia.

Murphy began playing baseball at the age of five years and played his high school ball at Englewood High School in Jacksonville.

Jacksonville University was the only four-year school to offer Murphy a scholarship.

Murphy attended Jacksonville University, where he played college baseball for the Dolphins under head coach Terry Alexander.

In college, he was regarded as a strong hitter, but a below-average fielder.

As a freshman, when asked to introduce himself and name what position he played (implying his defensive position), Murphy instead gave his preferred position in the batting order: "I'm Daniel Murphy from Jacksonville and I hit third."

He mostly played third base but was also slotted into right field to minimize the defensive liability.