The Murph

There are so many ways one could describe Daniel Murphy. You could start with he's young, a rookie, inexperienced, out of position, unaccomplished, and wet behind the ears.

But after a little over 1 month, yes it's only been 1 month, of watching this kid play the descriptors have drastically changed. The words clutch, unshakeable, patient, timely, hard-nosed, fundamental, smart base runner, gutsy, intelligent, motivated, dedicated, hungry, not horribly unattractive, team player, unlimited potential and determined are the terms I would use to describe him.

Daniel Murphy is proving himself to be a valuable asset on this Mets team. He's no Timo Perez who came on hot late in 2000 only to turn out to be a bust. And I want to believe Murphy is the antithesis of Greg Jefferies. Jeffries was overly hyped and never quite lived up the potential the Mets thought he had. Murphy on the other hand came in unheralded and has let his actions do the talking.

Even Jerry Manuel sees how valuable he is to this team. In fact he commented before the game that if Murphy had even the slightest bit of experience playing right field, he would be starting instead of Ryan Church.

The Murph seems to get a 3-2 count every time up. He knows when to go to the opposite field and when to try and pull the ball. After Delgado, the super Beltran and the streaking Reyes, Murphy is the guy I want up in a clutch situation. Not David Wright at this point.

Here's a guy who's played the infield all his life and has to make his debut in the big leagues playing a position he's never played. Not only his doing an adequate job in the field, but he's also batting over .300.

And he's brought the Mets back into first place in the NL East. The Murph is for real.