At this point, relegated to only first base duties, Daniel Murphy isn’t playing everyday. For the sake of the big league club, that’s probably for the best. Yet, for Murphy, it’s not. For this, the Mets should send him to triple-A where he can play everyday.
With Delgado injured, the 1B duties have been split between Murphy and Fernando Tatis. While I do believe Murphy has a greater upside, the difference in their play thus far has been rather negligible, and the difference in their play for the rest of the year will probably be similarly insignificant.
There are also players in triple-A that can come up and match Murphy’s .245 batting average. Mike Lamb can play both 1B and 3B, while Wily Mo Pena has been playing at 1st – though he has no Major League experience there.
But, for the sake of Murphy’s development, he should be playing everyday. Even if he is playing fairly regularly right now, he isn’t playing close to regularly vs. lefties. This is what is probably best for the team – but not Murphy. Unless the organization plans on him being a platoon player for his entire career, Murphy needs to learn how to hit lefties at some point. I have a tough time believing that he can learn how to hit lefties without playing against them regularly, like he could do in the minors.
Moving Murphy down wouldn’t really harm the major league time, while it is very important for his development.
Pete Lappin (3)
