Jack Murphy (minors06)

From BR Bullpen

John Joseph Murphy

  • Bats Both, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 4", Weight 235 lb.

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Catcher Jack Murphy played in the minor leagues from 2009 to 2017, then spent a couple seasons in the Australian Baseball League. He reached Triple A for the first time in 2013.

Murphy hit .375 as a high school senior. As a freshman at Princeton, he batted .277/.377/.475. He improved to .391/.476/.628 with 40 RBI in 42 games as a sophomore. He was 6th in the Ivy League in average, 5th in OBP, 5th in OPS, 7th in hits (61), 4th in total bases (98), 10th in doubles (11), 4th in home runs (8), tied with Matt Nuzzo for third in RBI and tied for third with 26 walks. He won All-League honors at catcher, beating out Ryan Lavarnway among others. In 2009, the junior remained productive (.291/.406/.455). He tied for 5th in the Ivy League with 22 walks and was again All-Ivy at catcher. The Toronto Blue Jays took him in the 31st round of the 2009 amateur draft. He had finished 6th in Princeton history with 18 career homers and first in fielding percentage (.989). He was signed by scout Tom Burns.

Jack split his first pro summer between the GCL Blue Jays (.261/.343/.386 in 28 G) and Auburn Doubledays (.279/.389/.426 in 19 G). He fielded .997 in 2010, in which he appeared for Auburn (.224/.280/.379 in 35 G) and the Lansing Lugnuts (0 for 4, BB). He was with Lansing for most of 2011, hitting .222/.314/.346 and also got into 3 games for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (1 for 6, 2 BB). In '12, he was the primary backstop for the Dunedin Blue Jays (.223/.312/.385, 10 HR in 86 G) and also some action with New Hampshire (8 for 24, 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB).

He helped the Canberra Cavalry win the 2012-2013 Australian Baseball League title, producing at a .304/.365/.480 clip. He was 10th in the league in slugging (between Kody Hightower and Cody Clark) and his 11 doubles tied Ryan Stovall and Elliot Biddle for 8th. He spent 2013 with New Hampshire (.218/.269/.330 in 56 G) and the Buffalo Bisons (2 for 8, 2B). Back with Canberra for the winter, he came up big in the 2013 Asia Series. In Canberra's semifinal upset of the Samsung Lions, his two-run homer off Ji-man An in the 10th was the big blow. Canberra became the first Australian Baseball League club to make the finale of an Asia Series. In the finale, he drove in 7, including a homer off Ching-Ming Wang, in a 14-4 upset of the Uni-President Lions. He had two of the event's 3 homers (Korean legend Seung-yeop Lee had the other) and easily led with 9 RBI, 4 ahead of runner-up Yung-Chi Chen. Despite a .235 average, those numbers helped him earn Series MVP.

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