Honestly, baseball fans are still trying to figure out if Daniel Murphy was a glitch in the Matrix or just a late-blooming genius. For about three years, the guy was basically a hitting god. If you were a Mets fan in 2015, you saw him turn into Babe Ruth for a month. But if you were following the Daniel Murphy Washington Nationals era from 2016 to 2018, you saw something even more sustainable and, frankly, terrifying for National League pitchers.
He wasn't supposed to be that good. When the Nationals signed him to a three-year, $37.5 million deal on Christmas Eve in 2015, the vibe was... cautious. The Mets had let him walk despite his historic postseason run. People thought his seven home runs in nine playoff games were a fluke. They called it a "hot streak." Then he showed up in D.C. and basically didn't stop hitting for two straight years.
The Christmas Eve Steal
The Nationals didn't even want Murphy first. That’s the funny part. They actually went after Ben Zobrist and Brandon Phillips. Zobrist chose the Cubs, and Phillips used his 10-5 rights to veto a trade. So, the Nats "settled" for the guy who had just single-handedly wrecked the Cubs in the NLCS.
It turned out to be one of the best "Plan B" signings in the history of the sport.
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In 2016, Murphy didn't just play well. He destroyed the league. He hit .347. He led the National League in slugging ($.595$) and OPS ($.985$). He finished second in the MVP race to Kris Bryant, and honestly, if you look at the raw hitting data, there was a massive argument for Murphy. Bryant had the defensive versatility and the "Cubs winning the World Series" narrative, but Murphy was the most dangerous out in baseball.
Why did his swing change?
He started standing closer to the plate. Simple, right? Not really. He worked with Kevin Long—who was the Mets' hitting coach at the time—to hunt fastballs and pull the ball with more authority. Before 2015, Murphy was a "spray the ball to all fields" singles hitter. He’d hit .300 with maybe 10 home runs.
By the time he got to Washington, he was a middle-of-the-order monster. He stopped trying to "just put the ball in play" and started trying to do damage. In 2016, he hit 25 home runs. The year after? Another 23. For a guy who looked like a high school geography teacher, he was punishing 98-mph heaters like they were batting practice lobs.
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Living in the Shadow of Bryce Harper
It’s easy to forget that Murphy was actually out-hitting Bryce Harper for a good chunk of their time together. In 2016, Harper was coming off his unanimous MVP season but struggled with a bit of a "sophomore slump" by his standards. Murphy picked up the slack.
He was a "pro’s pro." He’d walk into the clubhouse, obsess over film, and talk about the "geometry" of a swing. He was a hitting geek. He wasn't the fastest guy—his baserunning was... let's call it adventurous—and his defense at second base was often a "hold your breath" situation. But the bat? The bat was pure liquid gold.
- 2016 Stats: .347 AVG, 25 HR, 104 RBI, 47 Doubles.
- 2017 Stats: .322 AVG, 23 HR, 93 RBI, 43 Doubles.
He was a doubles machine. He tied the franchise record for doubles in a season (47) in 2016. He didn't strike out either. He fanned just 57 times in 582 plate appearances in 2016. That’s insane in the modern era. You just couldn't get him out.
What Happened at the End?
The wheels kinda came off in 2018. Murphy had knee surgery in the offseason, and the recovery was brutal. He missed a huge chunk of the first half. When he came back, the power wasn't quite there, even though he was still hitting around .300.
The Nationals were underperforming, and with Murphy heading toward free agency, they decided to move on. They traded him to the Cubs in August 2018. It felt weird. Seeing him in a Cubs jersey after he’d spent years terrorizing them was a trip.
But for those three seasons (really two and a half), Daniel Murphy Washington Nationals was a pairing that defined the most successful regular-season stretch in D.C. baseball history. He was the bridge between being a "good" team and a "juggernaut."
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The Rogers Hornsby Club
Here is a stat that will blow your mind. In 2016, Murphy joined Rogers Hornsby as the only second basemen in history to hit at least .347 with 25 homers and 100 RBIs while slugging over .590.
Think about that. You’re talking about a Hall of Fame legend from the 1920s, and then there’s Daniel Murphy in a curly-W cap.
Actionable Takeaway for Baseball Junkies
If you want to understand why Murphy was so successful, look at his Plate Coverage. He stopped swinging at the "pitcher’s pitches" on the corners and started forcing them into the heart of the plate.
- Study the Heat Maps: If you look at Murphy's 2016 heat map versus his 2012 map, the "red" (high slugging) area triples in size.
- The Pull Factor: He increased his pull percentage significantly. By catching the ball further out in front of the plate, he turned long fly outs into home runs.
- The Legacy: He proved that "old school" contact hitters can evolve into "new school" power threats if they change their intent.
Ultimately, Murphy wasn't just a flash in the pan. He was a technician who figured out the secret code to hitting and used it to lead the Nationals to back-to-back division titles. Even if his defense made you want to pull your hair out, you couldn't look away when he stepped into the box.