Here’s Who The Colorado Rockies Are Sending To The Arizona Fall League

Tom Murphy

(Image via YouTube)

Acquired: Drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 3rd round of the 2012 amateur draft from the University at Buffalo.

2015 team: Tom Murphy split 2015 between AA New Britain and AAA Albuquerque.

2015 stats: In New Britain, the catcher was .249/.320/.468 in 294 plate appearances with 13 home runs and 17 doubles. After his promotion to Albuquerque a little more than a month ago, Murphy slashed .273/.304/.582 with seven more homers and nine more doubles in just 115 plate appearances.

Additionally, for his career behind the plate, he’s thrown out 27% of would-be base stealers while posting a .983 fielding percentage and just 41 passed balls in nearly 2,000 innings of work as a catcher in the minor leagues.

Notes: Murphy is supposed to be the Colorado Rockies’ catcher of the future, and likely the man the Rox will go to after next season when Nick Hundley‘s contract expires. If things go right, expect Murphy to spend at least part of 2016 up in Denver as Hundley’s back-up, while being groomed for an every day role in 2017.

The New York state product has power (53 career home runs in less than 300 minor league games) while also playing good defense behind the plate, so it seems he might become a more-improved version of what the Rockies were hoping to get from Wilin Rosario.

One thing to note: Murphy has never played in more than 100 games in a year over the four years he’s been in the Colorado Rockies’ system. It will be interesting to see how his body holds up in an extended fall league, and then next year, should he split time between Albuquerque and Denver.

Next: Matt Carasiti