It’s not looking great.
I’ll admit it: I was in favor of the way the San Francisco Giants handled the catcher position last offseason. I thought signing Tom Murphy to a multi-year deal to be Patrick Bailey’s backup was a great move. I thought saying goodbye to Joey Bart and trying to extract a little trade value along the way was the right thing to do. I’m not ashamed to admit that.
I’m a little shamed to admit this, though: I still think it was the right move. Obviously, with the benefit of hindsight, I wish the Giants had just stuck with Bart, but I still think the process was correct. I ask you all to spare the angry words you’re currently feeling towards me — I’ll write an article about it at some point soon, and you can direct your ire there. It will feel better for everyone, I promise.
We all know what happened, of course. Murphy played 13 games for the Giants last year, and they were memorable only because of how bad they were. He was shut down with a knee injury and we essentially didn’t hear anything from him or about him until last month, when he arrived at Spring Training to (understandable) declarations of being the backup catcher.
And then, in the first few days of camp, he was shelved with a back injury that was first described as keeping him out a few days, and then a few weeks, and then Opening Day, and now probably a few months.
Murphy had 14 hits last Spring Training, and has had four hits since, in any capacity. Those may be the only hits he ever has in a Giants jersey.
Given the nature of back injuries, the rigors of the position, his age (he turns 34 in a few weeks), and his extensive history of injuries, it’s certainly feasible that Murphy won’t be healthy at any point this season. And even if he does return from injury at some point, it’s equally feasibly that the Giants will have found a preferable solution between now and then: Sam Huff appears in line for the Opening Day roster, and he’s a former top-100 prospect who currently has a 1.086 OPS in Spring Training … a nearly identical number to the one Murphy posted a year ago. Beyond Huff, Max Stassi has a good chance of sticking in the system in AAA, and he’s only a handful of years removed from a 2.9-WAR season, while having Bob Melvin’s full trust.
Which means that for Murphy to suit up for the Giants again, he’ll need to not just make a full injury recovery, but hope that no one has leap-frogged him on the depth charts … a task that gets easier when you count availability as an ability.
If for no other reason than to cling to my take that looks awful, and hope that Murphy can become a postseason hero for the Giants to make me look smart, I’ll say that the veteran backstop has not played his final game as a Giant. But I suspect many of you will disagree.