After bouncing between different roles at three different minor league affiliates last season, White Sox prospect lefty Shane Murphy didn't know where he'd end up or what he'd be doing entering spring training.
Now he's the reigning Southern League Pitcher of the Week, and his results since becoming a steady member of the Birmingham Barons rotation would be a welcome sight if they were attached to a name like Noah Schultz or Hagen Smith: 6 GS, 36 IP, 19 H, 3 ER, BB, 28 K, 2 HR, 0.75 ERA.
Murphy will look to continue his dominant run this weekend. Despite the numbers, the results have if anything spurred more self-awareness than hubris.
"I'm a technician lefty," Murphy said. "I've definitely found value in efficiency. In the grand scheme of things, in a long season when we're talking in terms of adding value to a big league club, or a Triple-A club or a Double-A club, the bullpens get worn down. If you're a starter, you want to take the ball. You want to eat as many outs as possible and to do that, you have to be efficient. You have to work deep into games and you have to minimize crooked numbers. And I think just attacking the heart of the zone and being efficient, getting quick outs. I don't think there's anything better than a first or second pitch out."
If it wasn't already apparent from that quote, the 24-year-old Murphy sits 88-91 mph most nights and acknowledges "there's not a lot of swing-and-miss in my game." The heater has impressive carry (18 IVB), and after losing one year of college ball to COVID and another to Tommy John surgery, Murphy reasons his big over-the-top curveball got him drafted after pitching in the MLB Draft League to draw more scouting attention.
But his mound identity is more about the five-pitch mix he's cultivated being greater than the sum of it parts, with his changeup, slider and cutter rounding it out, and Murphy lending a lot of credit to the White Sox player development staff for building out the glove-side portion of his arsenal.
"Across the whole org our pitching development has really taken drastic steps compared to when I first came in the organization, and I also think there's a ton of talent," said Murphy, who was drafted in the 14th round in 2022.
Murphy stands 6-foot-5 and throws from a high three-quarters arm slot while working up and down the strike zone. While his higher release point isn't ideal for someone dependent on carrying fastballs, it aids the deception for his large suite of pitches, paired together to create uncertainty about how steep the drop from his release point is going to be.
"I've found how to differentiate the shape between the cutter and the slider along with the velo," Murphy said. "Hitting is hard enough, you just want to change speeds. I want to go left, I want to go right. I want to stop, I want to slam on the brakes, I want to speed up. I want to be as unpredictable as possible with confidence that I can throw any pitch in the zone. Working ahead in counts and keeping guys off balance with different shapes has been really what's taken this year up another level, which had to be done. Because obviously getting promoted to Double-A, the level of baseball is the best I've seen in my career."
The best Murphy has been assigned to, perhaps, since he was shuffled up to Triple-A for emergency innings multiple times last season, or found his way into Cactus League games as a minor league extra this spring. Even without the results, Murphy felt like his central hypothesis was confirmed: When he executes, his stuff can play. Especially with fellow technician lefty Jake Palisch getting the call directly from Birmingham, Murphy feels what he's accomplishing can translate, as long as he remembers it does.
"I think the confidence is growing," Murphy said. "There's a lot more work to be done in refining my craft, but I think the confidence allows for the game to slow down. Which is the biggest thing: you just want to slow the game down as much as possible, and I've felt like the game is the slowest it's ever been for me right now."
Gwinnett 7, Charlotte 3
- Colson Montgomery doubled, walked and struck out thrice.
- Tim Elko singled and struck out thrice.
- Bryan Ramos, 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Fraser Ellard: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 12 of 17 pitches for strikes.
- Gus Varland: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 H, 15 of 27 pitches for strikes.
- Peyton Pallette: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 13 of 19 pitches for strikes.
Birmingham 3, Columbus 0
- Rikuu Nishida went 3-for-4.
- William Bergolla, 1-for-4.
- Ryan Galanie and Jacob Gonzalez both were 0-for-3 with a walk.
- DJ Gladney wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Lucas Gordon's Double-A debut: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 52 of 80 pitches for strikes.
Rome 1, Winston-Salem 0
- Sam Antonacci went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. He was also caught stealing.
- Jeral Perez wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Braden Montgomery was 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Samuel Zavala, 0-for-4 with a K.
Charleston 6, Kannapolis 4
- Javier Mogollón wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Caleb Bonemer was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Lyle Miller-Green went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Ryan Burrowes, 0-for-3 with an HBP and a strikeout.
- Abraham Nuñez, 0-for-2 with a walk.
- Pierce George: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
ACL White Sox 4, ACL Royals 1 (7 innings)
- Adrian Gíl tripled, walked and struck out twice.
- Jurdrick Profar was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
DSL Nationals 3, DSL White Sox 2 (8 innings)
- Orlando Patiño was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Frank Mieses went 1-for-3 with a K.
- Eduardo Herrera doubled, singled and stuck out twice.
- Alejandro Cruz was 0-for-4 with a K.
- Yobal Rodríguez: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HBP
