Unofficial fan projectA New Home and Another Rebuild
Daniel Murphy
Second and third baseman · Mets 2008–2015
The part fans remember
What the numbers leave out.
Murphy’s contact skill made him a dependable hitter for years. Then his stunning October power carried the Mets through the 2015 National League playoffs.
Murphy was a 13th-round pick who reached the Mets in 2008 and spent years proving his bat belonged while the team searched for his best position. He played left field, first base, second, and third. That movement reflected the full experience: Murphy could line a difficult pitch into the gap and then make a baserunning or fielding mistake that left everyone confused.
By 2014 he was an All-Star and a steady second baseman. Then October 2015 arrived, and steady became historic. Murphy homered in six straight postseason games, taking Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, and Jake Arrieta deep while carrying the Mets through Los Angeles and Chicago. He won NLCS MVP because there was no other possible choice.
The magic ended in the World Series, where his fielding mistakes joined the team’s late-inning problems. The Mets let him leave, and watching him become an MVP candidate with Washington made the decision hurt even more. Murphy’s story contains all of it: years of useful hitting, two unbelievable weeks, a difficult ending, and the frustration of seeing the best version continue for a rival.
The honest version
The best stretch
Murphy’s 2013–15 peak was built on contact, flexibility, and a bat that usually reached the ball. He played first, second, and third because the Mets kept needing him somewhere. The defense could be shaky and the baserunning adventurous, but the hitting kept him in the lineup. Then October arrived and turned a useful homegrown player into the center of the baseball world.
The part that got messy
Murphy homered in a record six straight postseason games, taking Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Jon Lester, and Jake Arrieta deep along the way. His steal of third after a walk in Game 5 against Los Angeles showed that the run was not only power; he was seeing every opening before anyone else. The NLCS MVP award felt inevitable by the time the Mets swept Chicago.
Why fans still care
The World Series exposed his defensive limits, and the Mets let him leave afterward. Watching him become an MVP candidate in Washington made that decision hurt more. Still, the ending should not poison the run. For two October weeks, Murphy produced one of the hottest stretches any Mets hitter has ever had and carried a pitching-led team all the way to the pennant.
Murphy could make a brilliant play, miss a routine one, and then line the next pitch into the gap. Fans experienced the full range. In October 2015, all the uncertainty disappeared and he became the hottest hitter on earth, homering off one ace after another. The ending against Kansas City was rough, but the Mets do not reach that World Series without his unbelievable two-week run.
Signature Mets momentHomered in six straight postseason games during the 2015 pennant run.
The short list
The stuff worth remembering.
- 012015 NLCS MVP
- 022015 National League champion
- 03Seven productive Mets seasons