Comments on: Murphy Stands Out In SoCal

By: Top 50 Jays Prospects, Jays Journal Edition: #19 Griffin Murphy « Jays Journal | A Toronto Blue Jays Blog

Sun, 30 Jan 2011 11:36:58 +0000

[...] noted here by Dave Perkin of BA, he pitched in front of 50 scouts while facing a very good team and their “ace” [...]

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:59:07 +0000

Hey David. I'm sorry, I'm on a soap box on this kid. I know you didn't say "dominant" about Griffin Murphy, however, I've seen this young man last year and in evaluating talent, he's definitely someone you want to have, however, pitchers who have success at the BIG LEAUGE level typically were dominant in HS baseball, even Chris Volstad, even though he didn't throw high number velocity out there, he did put away hitters and it was tough to get around on him, and of course he's a righty, so I can't compare an apple to an orange, in comparing Griffin to other successful lefties then, Andy Pettitte when he was at San Jac and in HS, did average double digit K's per game and was tough to get around on and he's had a great career without being a first rounder. I have no doubt Griffin has some helium left, but I'd like to see more put 'em away stuff because ML hitters adjust one time through the lineup very easily.
Great writeup I might add! Thanks David! See you on the trail!

By: Tom Hatch

Tom Hatch — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:34:56 +0000

I have to agree with Dave, in high school a pitcher may face 2 to 5 real hitters so K's are always inflated. College and pro's face 8 to 9 hitters every game. In high school my son had between 8 and 17 SO's a game, In college his K's are down but he has learned how to get groundouts and pitch to contact.

By: Dave Perkin

Dave Perkin — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:16:02 +0000

Bill: If you read my Draft Blog closely, you'll find that I do not use the word "dominant" in any form. Instead, I say that Murphy was efficient. I think you'll find at any level of baseball that pitchers who get large leads early in a game have a tendency to pitch to contact, and not try to strike everyone out. In any case, I don't feel that Murphy will be a strikeout type pitcher in the future anyway. Warren Spahn once said that hitting is timing; pitching is upsetting timing. I would go one step further and state that pitching is not about missing bats, it's about missing the center of bats. That is type of hurler I believe Murphy is. Besides, why work for an 8 pitch at bat that ends in a K when you can get a groundout in 2 pitches?

By: Bill

Bill — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:55:52 +0000

While Griffin may have the intangibles and being a lefty will help, being dominate does not 6 strikes in 6 innings make unless it was against the LA Dodgers!
Pitchers who've made their marks in the bigs who had the similar velocity and stuff Griffin has now, were dominating games at the HS level. That's the difference there. Greg Maddux was 90-94 in HS and he dominated hitters besides inducing grounders and pop ups and was average 10-12 k's per game.
Thanks!