The Red Sox made a surprise call up on Monday night when they promoted left-handed pitching prospect Chris Murphy from Triple-A Worcester.
The 25-year-old struggled with the WooSox, posting a 7.71 ERA in 10 outings (nine starts). His last outing, which was out of the bullpen, was his best performance of the season. He tossed 3 scoreless innings on June 1 in Louisville. He allowed one hit while walking no one and striking out three.
“Murph was exceptional out of the ‘pen the other day,” WooSox manager Chad Tracy said. “... It was by far and away the best outing I've seen him have in his two years here.”
Walks have been an issue for Murphy, he’s walked 25 batters in 39 2/3 innings pitched. His 5.67 BB/9 is the highest it’s been in his professional career.
“I’m just trying to work through the middle of the plate instead of trying to nibble.” Murphy said about his better recent outings. “I have been working with our pitching coach, Paul Abbott. We have been talking about being more aggressive through the zone instead of thinking about corners and nibbling with two strikes. I have to go at guys early and late in counts, whatever it is”
Murphy offers a four-pitch mix, fastball, cutter, curveball and changeup and generally has great command of all his pitches. The former sixth-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of San Diego University is very fastball-heavy, generally coming at opponents with a fastball/changeup combination. He uses his curveball and cutter as secondary pitches to the first two.
The southpaw likes to work up in the zone with his fastball, which allows him to get swings and misses.
“Murph was exceptional out of the bullpen the other day. He was scheduled to only throw three innings. We were keeping our options open because we about the doubleheaders were coming and the trips, going to to Cleveland and all that, we did it and limited him to three innings.
“He threw his cutter whenever he wanted to, he elevated when he wanted to, his changeup was exceptional. He got the ball in on righties, it was electric, it was really good. Whether or not that will happen in the majors, I don’t know, it was awesome to see,” said Tracy.
Baseball America ranks him as Boston’s No. 13 prospect and MLBPipeline has him at No. 14.
Murphy received the news of his promotion from Tracy on the WooSox off day Monday. It was a special moment for the WooSox skipper to deliver the news, despite it not being in person.
“He was choked up, for sure, when I told him,” said Tracy. “Big-time surprise, and it’s always fun to tell somebody for the first time that they're getting that opportunity. So it was really, really cool.”
The unexpected news derailed the plans that Murphy had on Monday night. He wasn’t expecting to get the call he was going to the bigs, instead he made plans to take advantage of his off day.
The southpaw was with his girlfriend and catcher Caleb Hamilton and his wife. They were on their way to Boston to go to an escape room and then heard the news.
“It’s not very often where you get to be with somebody on an off day, and they get the call to the big leagues," said Hamilton.
Hamilton is no stranger to getting that same phone call on being promoted to the majors. He was called up by the Twins back in July 2022 and then again in September where he recorded his only big league hit, a homer off Angels left-hander José Quijada.
“It’s really cool from my perspective because he’s been carving people up the last couple of weeks,” said Hamilton. “I was happy to see him come out of the ‘pen and kind of accept that role and just be like ‘Hey, you get one time through the order (and) you’re going to do as much damage as you can through the strike zone,’ and he did just that, so I'm super, super happy for him.”
Murphy is now in Cleveland with the Sox and will pitch out of the bullpen this series. He will give Alex Cora a fresh arm and he can showcase himself as a viable left-handed option out of the bullpen moving forward.
Boston has two of their lefties on the injured list, Richard Bleier and Joely Rodríguez with left shoulder inflammation. Both haven’t exactly set the world on fire coming out of the bullpen. Bleier owns a 5.85 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP and Rodríguez has an 18.00 ERA and 3.250 WHIP. The Red Sox need to find someone from the left side that can give them consistent innings, Brennan Bernardino and Ryan Sherriff have both seen time with the Sox and have pitched well.
Murphy is expected to be used in a low-leverage spot when he makes his debut with the Red Sox in Cleveland, per a source. The idea is to get him into the game if the score is lopsided on either end to build confidence when pitching in a big league game.
If Murphy can pitch like he did in his last appearance with the WooSox while in the majors on a consistent basis, it will give the Sox a legitimate left-hander they can consider using down the stretch. If his stint with the club is short, he’ll at least have gotten valuable experience pitching at the Major League level and can be an option down later this season.
Adam Duvall Ready to 'Win Ballgames'
Adam Duvall continued his rehab with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday night with his sights set on Yankee Stadium when making his return.
The veteran outfielder went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts and he played all nine innings in center field.
“The wrist is responding well. So, you know, I’m one day closer,” said Duvall.
Duvall has been rehabbing back from a fractured left wrist which he suffered eight games into the season. He injured himself on a diving-catch attempt in Detroit, rolling his wrist and subsequently breaking it in the process.
The 34-year-old’s goal since landing on the 60-day IL was to be back on his first eligible date which is June 9. The Red Sox will begin a three-game series with the Yankees in the Bronx.
“That’s been the target date for, you know a long time now. I just got to last this game tomorrow, and see where we’re at. And then, you know, let the power that be make the decision. The wrist is feeling good, that’s a plus,“ said Duvall.
“I had this date in mind, I knew that I was going to have to push myself to be ready for that date. I think just having that finish like and that light at the end of the tunnel helps,” added Duvall.
While on the injured list, Duvall has missed 50-plus games, the last couple of weeks he has been focused on getting his timing back at the plate and his legs back underneath him.
“Obviously with hitting, there's some rhythm and timing, you know, issues that you got to kind of work out. There's the getting your legs back underneath you out in center field and, you know, getting the body ready to play back-to-back games, and then back-to-back-to-back games,” said Duvall.
Prior to his injury, Duvall had been white hot at the plate, he went 15-for-33 (.455) with a .514 on-base percentage, 1.030 slugging percentage, four homers, five doubles, one triple, 14 RBIs and 11 runs.
“I’ve had quite a few white-hot stretches. But I did some things well, at the beginning of the year that I feel like I've never done before, which was controlling the zone and, you know, swinging at pitches that I wanted to swing at. So hopefully, work on that, continue doing that,” said Duvall.
If everything goes to plan and Duvall is activated for the Yankees series, he’s not focused on the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry, he’s focused on hitting the baseball and preparing for the games. He is excited about playing games at Fenway Park again next week.
“I don't pay attention so much, it's about the team across from me. I’m more focused on kind of preparing myself for the game. And at the end of the day it's about that little white ball," he said.
“Obviously the crowd and the atmosphere is gonna be fun. I really love playing in front of loud crowds and in big games like that. But at the end of the day, it's more so about just how I prepare and how I get ready for the game."
Corey Rosier continues to torment on the base paths: 'Speed man, it wreaks havoc'
The Red Sox have never really been a team that incorporates the speed factor into their lineup. Boston has two speedy prospects that could help impact the Major League roster in the near future.
Red Sox fans are very familiar with David Hamilton and his ability to create havoc on the base paths. He set a single-season organization record with 70 stolen bases last season. Hamilton is already off to a hot start and has 26 stolen bases in 31 attempts.
“His stolen bases have really stuck out and last year as an elite game-changer on the bases. He’s had some ups and downs offensively. Hamilton got into our system from a defensive perspective and does the things we believe in. We feel like someone with his ability, he can really take off," said Minor League infield coordinator Darren Fenster to BostonSportsJournal.com last week.
He is not the only Red Sox prospect that has incorporated the speed element into his game. Portland Sea Dogs outfielder Corey Rosier has started to make some noise with his legs this season. Rosier has 23 stolen bases and has been caught only three times.
The 23-year-old was named the Red Sox Stolen Base Player of the Month for April.
“It’s always cool to be recognized, obviously. It's no secret speed is part of my game. And I think knowing that my speed can change the course of a game at any time. It’s something that's always a weapon, you know, even if, I'm not feeling great with the swing, the speed is always going to be there. So if I can find ways to get on base, there's always a chance to, change the game,” Rosier said to BostonSportsJournal.com.
The Sox acquired Rosier from the Padres last season, he was part of the four-player deal that sent Eric Hosmer and prospect Max Ferguson to Boston for lefty Jay Groome.
“In the middle of the year, getting traded was kind of wild,” said Rosier. “I packed my car and drove nine hours in a day, and that was very interesting.”
Rosier initially found out about the trade to the Red Sox through social media.
“The Padres had already made a bigger trade a day earlier involving Juan Soto, so I was sitting in the locker room reading up on that,” said Rosier. “Then one of those fan pages commented on one of my pictures on Instagram and said welcome to Boston. So, I was looking at that like, huh, that’s interesting. Then my manager called me into his office and told me it was true.”
Now that the 23-year-old is settled in with the Sox organization, he is focused on helping his team win by setting up opportunities with his speed.
“I can already think of a few times this year where we're down maybe a couple runs, I get on (base) by either infield hit or single, steal second, the next thing you know, we score three or four or five, pop it off, just like that.
“Speed man, it wreaks havoc. I mean, that in the back of the infielders mind, they know that they have to get the ball clean, make a good throw or and even then still sometimes, I can beat those plays,” added Rosier.