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davell

By davell,
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David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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He's one of those guys who I always had a little trouble reconciling what we saw from him on the field defensively with the metrics.

 

For his career, Murton's UZR/150 in the OF is 17.4. That's significantly better than guys like Starling Marte and Alex Gordon. And that's over a 2,000 inning sample.

 

He never looked much better than passable out there, but I guess being contemporaries with guys like Raul Ibanez and Jermaine Dye can really help bring down the bar for "league average."

 

And dunn. never forget dunn.

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Flames24Rulz All-Star

Flames24Rulz

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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crazy to look at this in present day context

 

I know he was limited by his defense and didn't have as much power as some like in their corner OF, but I still have a hard time understanding why he didn't get more of a shot. Not just with the Cubs, but in MLB in general.

 

Yeah, I'm surprised nobody took a chance on him these last few years. He's not that old and his numbers were never bad.

 

Who didn't love Murton?

UMFan83 GOAT

UMFan83

Old-Timey Member
Posted
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I still to this day don't understand why he was discarded like he was. I don't think anyone bought his advanced defensive stats (or possibly we were still in the post-Moneyball/pre-semi reliable advanced defensive stats world), his bat didn't profile well enough for a corner OF, couldnt play center, couldn't hit well enough to be a DH or corner IF. But I guess I don't understand why he didn't at least find a role as a 4th OF somewhere. He was certainly good enough for a 25 man roster spot over the last 8 years.
David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I still to this day don't understand why he was discarded like he was. I don't think anyone bought his advanced defensive stats (or possibly we were still in the post-Moneyball/pre-semi reliable advanced defensive stats world), his bat didn't profile well enough for a corner OF, couldnt play center, couldn't hit well enough to be a DH or corner IF. But I guess I don't understand why he didn't at least find a role as a 4th OF somewhere. He was certainly good enough for a 25 man roster spot over the last 8 years.

 

seemed like he got in lou's doghouse with rich hill (who, admittedly, proved to have the yips for years after - i still thought at the time that he was given up on way too soon in 08) and michael barrett

CubinNY MVP

CubinNY

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

crazy to look at this in present day context

 

I know he was limited by his defense and didn't have as much power as some like in their corner OF, but I still have a hard time understanding why he didn't get more of a shot. Not just with the Cubs, but in MLB in general.

 

Yeah, I'm surprised nobody took a chance on him these last few years. He's not that old and his numbers were never bad.

 

Who didn't love Murton?

Teams might have tried to take a chance on the big Murt but he was making a small fortune in Japan mashing and raking. He could never make that sort of money here. I'm sort of surprised he came back, but I think he might have got black balled or something. I think I remember him getting in a fight with a coach.

Transmogrified Tiger All-Star

Transmogrified Tiger

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
Teams might have tried to take a chance on the big Murt but he was making a small fortune in Japan mashing and raking. He could never make that sort of money here. I'm sort of surprised he came back, but I think he might have got black balled or something. I think I remember him getting in a fight with a coach.

 

It looks like that altercation was in 2012, unless there was another one. http://www.amazinavenue.com/2013/11/13/5049256/international-free-agent-profile-2014-matt-murton

 

Murton was limited to 121 games in 2012 because he was removed from the active roster in mid-August because of a disagreement with coach Koichi Sekikawa that led to an argument that turned into a fight where the two men had to be physically separated to prevent things from escalating.
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.
soccer10k Cooperstown

soccer10k

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

A .319 BABIP isn't ridiculous, which is what he had from 05-07 with the Cubs.

David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

I wasn't bummed because we got Rich horsefeathering Harden. Great horsefeathering day.

 

You went to his debut, right? When Theriot threw that ball into the OF?

David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

A .319 BABIP isn't ridiculous, which is what he had from 05-07 with the Cubs.

 

Yeah his BABIP doesn't look very ridiculous at all

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

A .319 BABIP isn't ridiculous, which is what he had from 05-07 with the Cubs.

 

Seemed like when you break down those seasons he was hitting around a .330-.340 BABIP when he was on. I dunno; seems a bit unsustainable for a guy who didn't project to be a big hitter.

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

I wasn't bummed because we got Rich [expletive] Harden. Great [expletive] day.

 

You went to his debut, right? When Theriot threw that ball into the OF?

 

Oh yeah. One of the best games I ever went to. It was driving me nuts how people wanted to basically throw Marmol onto the street but quickly forgot that [expletive] horsefeathering Theriot.

David GOAT

David

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

A .319 BABIP isn't ridiculous, which is what he had from 05-07 with the Cubs.

 

Seemed like when you break down those seasons he was hitting around a .330-.340 BABIP when he was on. I dunno; seems a bit unsustainable for a guy who didn't project to be a big hitter.

 

.336 was his career high for a season (in the 50 game sample in 05), which isn't outlandishly high. for the most part (and for his career) he was in the low-mid .300s, though.

Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

 

A .319 BABIP isn't ridiculous, which is what he had from 05-07 with the Cubs.

 

Seemed like when you break down those seasons he was hitting around a .330-.340 BABIP when he was on. I dunno; seems a bit unsustainable for a guy who didn't project to be a big hitter.

 

.336 was his career high for a season (in the 50 game sample in 05), which isn't outlandishly high. for the most part (and for his career) he was in the low-mid .300s, though.

 

Like I said, I was just eyeballing his season breakdowns. The split in 2007 alone seems pretty glaring.

Transmogrified Tiger All-Star

Transmogrified Tiger

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

maybe it's because you hate white players

Banedon GOAT

Banedon

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
I have a baseball shoved in a closet somewhere with Sean Marshall and Matt Murton's signatures. Can't wait to cash that lottery ticket in!
Sammy Sofa GOAT

Sammy Sofa

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
I liked Murton, but I remember not being bummed out when he was traded in 2008. Something just seemed to flip off pretty quickly with him. Looking at his numbers, he had a pretty ridiculous BABIP when he was hitting.

 

maybe it's because you hate white players

 

And damned Murton was the whitest of them all.

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