On October 30, 2009, the Blue Jays announced that Dwayne Murphy would move from First Base Coach to hitting coach.
We have all heard how Murphy made Jose Bautista into the hitter he is today. Turning a mediocre journeyman into one of the best power hitters in the game. Let's take a rudimentary look at what effect Murphy may have had on two other hitters. Both of these players were young, line drive hitters who hit the ball to all fields and were entering what is typically, the prime years of their careers. Both of these players came off monster years at the plate. And now, let's enjoy some stats:
Year AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2005 23 407 3 .274 .342 .385 .727 92 1.3
2006 24 606 6 .291 .349 .386 .735 91 2.6
2007 25 657 17 .291 .333 .459 .792 107 2.9
2008 26 229 2 .263 .324 .361 .685 85 0.6
2009 27 734 36 .286 .330 .499 .829 114 4.5
Note that in 2008, Hill played 2 months and then missed the remainder of the season due to injury. In 2009, Hill had a career year, and received many subjective accolades as well, playing in the All-Star game, receiving a Silver Slugger and winning the AL Comeback Player of the Year award. He was also 12th in the AL MVP voting. Despite a career year that likely wouldn't be duplicated, it was reasonable to expect an OPS+ in the 95-100 range for the next few years.
Enter Murphy:
YEAR AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2010 28 580 26 .205 .271 .394 .665 78 1.2
2011 29 429 8 .246 .299 .356 .655 77 -0.4
On August 23, 2011 Hill was traded to Arizona, thus only the Toronto numbers are shown above. The change was immediate.
Exit Murphy:
YEAR AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2011 29 142 2 .315 .386 .492 .878 137 1.1
2012 30 668 26 .302 .360 .522 .882 133 4.8
2013 31 42 2 .306 .405 .556 .960 159 0.5
The numbers speak for themselves and the difference is astronomical. In 2012, Hill won the NL Silver Slugger award, was 8th in the league in oWAR and hit for the cycle twice in one month.
Career OPS under Murphy: .629
Career OPS under all other hitting coaches: .797
But Hill was only coached by Murphy for 1 and a half seasons, so perhaps the down years were a fluke. If only we could find a similar hitter who had more plate appearances under Murphy.
Year AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2006 22 65 2 .367 .415 .600 1.015 159 0.5
2007 23 311 11 .238 .278 .400 .678 77 -0.1
2008 24 349 9 .282 .316 .439 .755 101 1.0
2009 25 654 35 .305 .370 .562 .932 141 4.5
2006-2008 brought mixed results which is not surprising for his age, lack of regular playing time and bouncing around between AAA and the Majors. In May 2008, Lind was sent down to AAA after going 1 for 19. After getting called back up in June he seemed to put it together, finishing with the respectable numbers you see above. As we all know, 2009 was a great year, as he finished in the top 10 in many offensive categories including HR, OPS, 2B, TB, SLG and RBI which earned him a Silver Slugger and a 15th place finish in the MVP voting. At only 25 years old, it was not unreasonable to expect an OPS+ over 100 for the next few years.
Enter Murphy:
YEAR AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2010 26 613 23 .237 .287 .425 .712 90 -0.4
2011 27 542 26 .251 .295 .439 .734 95 0.6
2012 28 353 11 .255 .314 .414 .729 97 0.2
On July 25, 2012 Lind had an OPS of .692 and was sent down to AAA to work with then LV hitting coach Chad Mottola. Upon his return a month later, he seemed to show some improvement finishing with the numbers seen above.
Exit Murphy, stage right.
This offseason, amidst the coaching shuffle, the Jays moved the man who created a monster slugger, to First Base Coach and replaced him with Mottola. The results, though perhaps not sustainable, were immediate:
YEAR AGE PA HR AVG. OBP. SLG. OPS. OPS+ oWAR
2013 29 189 6 .344 .418 .540 .958 159 1.7
Career OPS under Murphy: .724
Career OPS under all other hitting coaches: .848
So, do you think Dwayne Murphy had some negative effect on these two hitters? Was his "pull everything" approach detrimental to certain types of hitters. Or are there other possible explanations? What do you think the hitting coaches influence was with other hitters. Travis Snyder? Lyle Overbay? I invite your responses.