NEWSLETTER
Just about as soon as I could talk about how Brennen Davis had homered for the third time in four games, he homered AGAIN, making it four times in five games.
And this time, just for fun, B.J. Murray Jr. wound up going back-to-back with him:
For Davis, the homer pushes his Triple-A line further north, to .235/.397/.529/137 wRC+ (despite a .219 BABIP that does not look supported by the batted ball data). I think we have to wait a bit more before making any pronouncements after a couple lost years, but this is really, really great to see from Davis.
As for Murray, it’s been a much rougher go at Triple-A. One of the quiet breakouts in the system over the last two years, Murray hit quite well at Double-A Tennessee last year, and established himself as a top-20 Cubs prospect. But after getting the bump to Iowa this year, the third baseman is hitting just .169/.283/.280/51 wRC+. The 13.8% BB rate is solid, but it comes with an ugly 31.2% K rate, and a .110 ISO that doesn’t come close to being high enough to justify that kind of swing and miss.
As with Davis, it sure seems like there is some bad BABIP luck baked into Murray’s line, as he’s at just .233 despite a whopping 25.0% line drive rate. Of course, a 34.8%(!!!) infield fly rate is going to obliterate your BABIP, so maybe not.
If you want to play around with arbitrary cut-offs, you could say that, after the first two weeks, Murray has been a bit better (.200/.322/.360/81 wRC+). You hope he continues to adjust, and looks like he’s handling Triple-A well by the end of the year. I don’t know that there is a future starting job on the big league Cubs for Murray, but a switch-hitter with power and discipline, who can play the corner infield spots, is the kind of guy you’d love to have available as an up-down bench option, at a minimum.
Of note, Murray is Rule 5 eligible after this season, so all the more reason that you’d love to know a little better what he can be by the end of the year.
