Jim Murphy (minors04)

James Patrick Murphy

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 240 lb.
• School Washington State University
• High School Juanita High School

• Born September 16, 1985 in Oakland, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

First baseman Jim Murphy played in the Philadelphia Phillies system from 2008 to 2014.

Murphy was 4-1 with a 1.63 ERA as a high school junior. As a senior, he hit .463 and had a 6-2 record. He hit .287/.400/.455 as a freshman at Washington State. His sophomore year of college, he batted .333/.456/.519 with 46 RBI in 59 games. His 20 hit-by-pitch were second in the Pac-10 Conference behind Colt Sedbrook and he set a school record at 1B with 583 putouts. He slumped to .220/.333/.327 as a junior, though he fielded .996. His senior year, Murphy produced at a .324/.445/.667 clip with 16 dingers and 61 RBI in 56 games. He was 6th in the Pac-10 in RBI (between Sean Ratliff and C.J. Ziegler), tied Ike Davis for 7th in homers and led with 20 HBP. He finished his career as Washington State's career leader in putouts (1,972, 8th in NCAA annals) and hit-by-pitch (61, the Pac-10 record, tied for 8th in NCAA history with Karl Jernigan, Lou Donati and Rusty McNamara). He was tied for 4th in Washington State history in homers and 6th in RBI. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 17th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one round after Troy Hanzawa and one round before Tyler Cloyd; Dave Ryles was the scout.

His first summer as a pro saw him with three clubs, playing for the GCL Phillies (.355/.422/.505 in 28 G), Williamsport Crosscutters (.220/.328/.367 in 31 G) and Clearwater Threshers (2 for 8, 2B, 2 BB). In 2009, he hit .279/.393/.467 with 27 doubles and 14 homers for the Lakewood BlueClaws as they won the South Atlantic League title; he fielded .997 at 1B. He was 4th in the SAL in OBP (behind Derek Norris, Kiel Roling and Brian Pellegrini) and second in hit batsmen (19, 3 behind Matt West. Among Phillies farmhands, he was tied for 7th in doubles with Travis Mattair and Sebastian Valle, 6th in RBI (between Travis d'Arnaud and Brian Stavisky), tied for 4th in home runs (with Domonic Brown), first in hit-by-pitch (3 ahead of Harold Garcia) and second in OBP (.002 behind Michael Taylor).

During 2010, he struggled (.239/.316/.363, 6 HR, 32 BB, 43 RBI) for the Clearwater Threshers, though he again fielded .997; he split time at 1B with Darin Ruf. He tied Calvin Anderson for 5th in the South Atlantic League with 14 times plunked and tied for 10th in doubles (29). Had he qualified, he would have led first basemen in fielding percentage. Among Phillies farmhands, he was one HBP behind leader Garcia and tied Tagg Bozied and Cody Overbeck for fourth in two-baggers.

He eclipsed the 15 home run mark the next three seasons. In 2011, he hit .268/.361/.490 with 22 home runs and 77 RBI in 129 games for the BlueClaws. One of the league's oldest players at 25 (he turned 26 the month the season ended), he was 6th in the SAL in doubles (35), tied Adam Duvall and Evan Gattis for 5th in homers, tied Duvall for 5th in total bases (227) and missed the top 10 in slugging by .003 behind Brady Shoemaker and Jurickson Profar. He led first basemen in putouts (1,067) and double plays (100). Among Philadelphia minor leaguers, he was 4th in home runs (between Brandon Moss and Derrick Mitchell), 4th in RBI (between Mitchell and Overbeck), third in doubles (behind Ruf and Carlos Rivero) and third with 59 walks (behind Matt Rizzotti and Moss). He was a South Atlantic League All-Star that season, picked at DH; Dan Black was the first baseman.

The next season, he hit .274/.355/.483 with 17 home runs and 85 RBI in 125 games for the Clearwater Threshers (he was also one of the oldest players in the High-A Florida State League that year as well, at 26. He was the oldest player with 100+ games logged). He was second in the FSL in slugging (36 points shy of Christian Yelich), third in runs (75, between Yelich and Alonzo Harris), first in doubles (43, 7 more than runner-up Tyler Collins), 4th in homers (trailing Marcell Ozuna, Cory Vaughn and Kyle Roller), tied for third in RBI (even with Roller), second in total bases (222, 11 behind Ozuna), led in extra-base hits and third in OPS (after Yelich and Mike O'Neill). He did not make the FSL All-Star team; Alex Dickerson was the first baseman and Roller the DH. In the Philadelphia system, he was third in runs (behind Ruf and Kelly Dugan), 1st in doubles (8 ahead of Leandro Castro), tied with Valle for second in homers (a distant 21 behind Ruf) and second in RBI (19 behind Ruf). He tied Trevor Story, Taylor Harbin and K.C. Hobson for 4th in the minor leagues in doubles, trailing only Ray Navarrete, Adam Eaton and Travis Shaw.

In 2013, he hit 23 home runs with 83 RBI, while batting .273/.352/.465 in 139 games for the Reading Phillies. He was on the Eastern League leaderboard in homers (tied for first with Ryan Schimpf and Brandon Waring), RBI (3rd behind Jesus Aguilar and Caleb Joseph), total bases (235, 2nd, 21 behind Joseph), sacrifice flies (8, 2nd, 2 behind Joseph),m fielding percentage at 1B (.992, 1st) and OPS (8th, between Carlos Moncrief and Adam Loewen). He was left off the EL All-Star team as Allan Dykstra was the first baseman. Among players in the Phillies farm chain, he was second in homers (8 behind Maikel Franco), tied for first in sacrifice flies (with Adam Charles and Aaron Altherr) and second in RBI (20 back of Franco). That winter, he hit .274/.366/.419 in 20 games for the Tigres de Aragua, backing up Hector Gimenez, and was 6 for 16 for the Tigres del Licey.

He opened 2014 in AAA for the first time, with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. That year, his final campaign, he hit .240/.330/.391 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI in 116 games.

Overall, Murphy batted .264/.354/.445 with 98 home runs and 432 RBI.

Primary Sources

• 2014 Phillies Media Guide
• WSU bio
• The Baseball Cube
• 2011-2014 Baseball Almanacs