Slugging Matt Murton

[Minneapolis Cub]

Prior to today, September 13, Matt Murton has a batting average of .347, slugging average of .544, and obp of .405 for the months of July, August, and September. That's only 2 1/2 months, and we know a short success does not guarantee the future (see Corey Patterson, first half of 2003).

Nonetheless, it shows promise, and we're unlikely to find a free agent with better production in the free agent market. Let's concentrate on other needs--and they are many

[YearofDaCubs]

Too bad we ended up with Jacque JOnes and Pierre at the other OF spots.

[Brian]

and his current BA is .301... not bad for a guy that was kicked out of LF by a 1B/DH not too long ago.

[Balsa]

He's a keeper that's for sure.

[WeberJazz]

Funny you should talk about Murton because I was just looking at his stats and thinking about his production.

 

Entering tonight he has played 178 games and has 534 AB's -- roughly the equivalent amount of AB's of a full major league season. His line over that period looks like this: .305 avg./.370 obp/.461 slg/.831 ops. He has 18 HR and 71 rbi over that period.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I agree w/ Dusty, Izturis should be hitting number 2 next year :roll:

 

Murton in left isn't the problem, it's Pierre and Jones in center and right. But as it currently stands, I think we are better off trying to add some power at second as opposed to left.

Edited September 14, 2006 by WeberJazz

[Guest]

mark grace type numbers?

[Guest]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

[UK1679666180]

I was thinking of a RH'ed version of O'Neill.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

 

Why does everyone want to keep pressing Murton to be a HR hitter? There's nothing wrong with being a 15 HR, 75 RBI guy if you can post a 300 BA and a 370 OBP. Not everyone can hit 3-4-5 in the order: in fact, only three can :-) Get the needed slugger on this team at a different position, 2B or RF or CF. As is, I think Murton is an ideal #2 or #6 hitter, either work for him (if we had a manager smart enough to recognize that).

[Guest]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

 

that would be nice - you're with me though that so far those numbers look a lot like the much beloved mark grace. I guess matt needs to work on his interview skills and womanizing.

[Roast]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

 

that would be nice - you're with me though that so far those numbers look a lot like the much beloved mark grace. I guess matt needs to work on his interview skills and womanizing.

 

:mamoru:

[Guest]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

 

Why does everyone want to keep pressing Murton to be a HR hitter? There's nothing wrong with being a 15 HR, 75 RBI guy if you can post a 300 BA and a 370 OBP. Not everyone can hit 3-4-5 in the order: in fact, only three can :-) Get the needed slugger on this team at a different position, 2B or RF or CF. As is, I think Murton is an ideal #2 or #6 hitter, either work for him (if we had a manager smart enough to recognize that).

 

because .370 and .600 is better than .370 and .440? I agree with you but at this stage of his career there is no reason to not hope for more.

[Guest]

mark grace type numbers?

I think Murton's going to hit for more power than Grace. He's currently got a ground ball / fly ball ratio of 2.47 for his major league career. As he adjusts that ratio, I think he has enough bat speed to hit 30 HR a season.

 

that would be nice - you're with me though that so far those numbers look a lot like the much beloved mark grace. I guess matt needs to work on his interview skills and womanizing.

Yeah, it's not a bad comp so far. But everyone expected Grace to develop more power at the same point of his career, too. Murton's not necessarily going to make the adjustment to hit more fly balls, but I think it is likely to trend that direction over the next several years.

[WeberJazz]

I was thinking of a RH'ed version of O'Neill.

 

That's what I was thinking earlier today but when I checked O'Neill's statistics, I decided that was probably a bit optimistic. The guy posted some pretty nice seasons.

 

Though if Murton attains that kind of production, I will be thoroughly pleased.

[Jehrico]

I was thinking of a RH'ed version of O'Neill.

 

That's what I was thinking earlier today but when I checked O'Neill's statistics, I decided that was probably a bit optimistic. The guy posted some pretty nice seasons.

 

Though if Murton attains that kind of rings, I will be thoroughly pleased.

fixed...

I've thought for quite a while now that the Yanks haven't won the WS since O'Neill retired because they haven't replaced him yet.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I see Murton posting numbers comparable to Rusty Greer.

 

Greer's career line: 305/387/475. That's not bad and I think that is attainable for Murton.

 

At 27-28, Greer posted SLG of 530 and 531 respectively. Murton may be able to do that in his best years as well. Greer's lowest BA was 271 in a year he still posted a 355 OBP. His lowest OBP was 342 in a year in which he struggled with injuries. A few times, Greer exceeded a 400 OBP. I think Murton could follow a similar track, and hopefully without the injuries that hampered Greer.

[Rob]

For the most part, the Greer comparison isn't bad. I do think Murton has more natural power than Greer though, even if his approach doesn't use it.

 

I could easily see one of those fluke seasons where Murton keeps getting pitches up in the zone and hanging curve balls that he just can't help but smash... Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 30 HR season out of him sometime around age 28. But I wouldn't expect more than about 18-20 out of him in any other seasons.

[Guest]

As someone else posted, Murton has basically one full season worth of AB's. In that first full season of AB's, he has 18 home runs.

 

I think it's a pretty low expectation to say that he won't improve on that throughout his career.

[Guest]

I was thinking of a RH'ed version of O'Neill.

 

That's what I was thinking earlier today but when I checked O'Neill's statistics, I decided that was probably a bit optimistic. The guy posted some pretty nice seasons.

 

Though if Murton attains that kind of rings, I will be thoroughly pleased.

fixed...

I've thought for quite a while now that the Yanks haven't won the WS since O'Neill retired because they haven't replaced him yet.

 

huh? Don't you mean because they haven't replaced Chad Curtis? Seriously, what the heck do you mean?

[Guest]

looking at the 1998 yankees of paul o'neill, its pretty impressive. they didn't win any postseason awards despite winning 114 games. what a balanced team. they led the league in offense and defense by large margins.

[Rob]

As someone else posted, Murton has basically one full season worth of AB's. In that first full season of AB's, he has 18 home runs.

 

I think it's a pretty low expectation to say that he won't improve on that throughout his career.

 

You think Chris Duncan is going to be a superstar too?

 

When Murton came into the league, nothing supported the power stroke he showed for a few months. Color me skeptical, but I've been a Cubs fan too long to hope for improvement when it's not obvious they had mastered that much of the skill in the first place.

[Guest]

As someone else posted, Murton has basically one full season worth of AB's. In that first full season of AB's, he has 18 home runs.

 

I think it's a pretty low expectation to say that he won't improve on that throughout his career.

 

You think Chris Duncan is going to be a superstar too?

 

When Murton came into the league, nothing supported the power stroke he showed for a few months. Color me skeptical, but I've been a Cubs fan too long to hope for improvement when it's not obvious they had mastered that much of the skill in the first place.

Chris Duncan has nothing to do with this conversation. You could say that for any prospect.

 

Murton is 6'1", 220 lbs. He gets really good bat speed with a powerful, compact stroke. The only reason he isn't hitting more home runs is that he's not lifting the ball very often. In fact, were Murton to have enough AB's to qualify for the batting title, he'd be 3rd in MLB in GB/FB ratio.

 

I don't see any reason to think that he can't shift that ratio as he matures as a hitter to generate some more fly balls. If he does that, I strongly believe he can be an annual 25+ HR hitter, with several 30+ seasons mixed in.

[Rob]

As someone else posted, Murton has basically one full season worth of AB's. In that first full season of AB's, he has 18 home runs.

 

I think it's a pretty low expectation to say that he won't improve on that throughout his career.

 

You think Chris Duncan is going to be a superstar too?

 

When Murton came into the league, nothing supported the power stroke he showed for a few months. Color me skeptical, but I've been a Cubs fan too long to hope for improvement when it's not obvious they had mastered that much of the skill in the first place.

Chris Duncan has nothing to do with this conversation. You could say that for any prospect.

 

Murton is 6'1", 220 lbs. He gets really good bat speed with a powerful, compact stroke. The only reason he isn't hitting more home runs is that he's not lifting the ball very often. In fact, were Murton to have enough AB's to qualify for the batting title, he'd be 3rd in MLB in GB/FB ratio.

 

I don't see any reason to think that he can't shift that ratio as he matures as a hitter to generate some more fly balls. If he does that, I strongly believe he can be an annual 25+ HR hitter, with several 30+ seasons mixed in.

 

I mentioned earlier that I think he has plenty of natural power. I also think he was using it flukishly in his first season. He hit a HR every 20 at bats. His rate this year is a bit better than one every 40.

 

Is he certainly capable of good HR totals? Yes, he is.

 

Do I think he's going to change his approach drastically enough to become a legitimate power threat? No, I don't. But I certainly wouldn't complain if he did.

[CuseCubFan69]

A thread like this means that Baker is going to start Pagan in the next game.

 

I've always liked Murton and I think he'll do fine as the corner OF for the Cubs. What worries me is that Hendry looks at different numbers and thinks that Pierre and Jones are the best hitting OF's and Murton is the weak link.

[wastra]

The bottom line is that TYPICALLY, huys in their early-mid 20s develop more power in their late 20s to early 30s. That's the TYPICAL progression. Murton is probably destined to be a line-drive hitter, not a constant flyball hitter, but good line drive hitters with compact, quick swings tend to pop a few as they get better at recognizing pitches and get naturally stronger with age.

 

If we assume that the second half of this year is more indicative of his abilities than the first, he's ALREADY a 15-homer type of guy or better. So it's not unrealistic to think he would be a 20-25 type of guy with a little more experience and even only modest improvement at making solid contact.

 

As it stands, I don't think it coincidence that when he stopped dropping his right shoulder near the end of the first half, he stopped topping so many choppers to the left side and started hitting the line drives.

 

 

He might, like gracie (though he's built much stockier than Grace), never develop more power. It's entirely possible. And if an .830 OPS is what we can get for him, I'm not going to * about that in the least. he's ALREADY, imo, a good #2 or #3 hitter.