Boston Red Sox Prospects: Candidates for early season promotions
By Hunter Noll
Red Sox pitching prospect Chris Murphy (Double-A to Triple-A)
Chris Murphy is one of the most under-appreciated prospects in the Red Sox system. He’s definitely right near the top of that list. Okay, I talk about Murph a lot. But that doesn’t mean I feel like he’s getting the respect he deserves. One look at the numbers will prove my point.
The left-handed pitcher has appeared in seven games this season. Murphy has a 1.97 ERA, .152 BAA, and 0.97 WHIP in that time. Over 32 innings he has piled up 41 strikeouts. Most importantly, he’s really limited the home runs this season, allowing just two. That was an issue for him last year (21 in 101 1/3 innings) that he seems to have corrected.
Murphy is listed as Boston’s 10th overall prospect according to MLB. And he’s putting up those numbers in Double-A. Somehow you almost never see him get talked about though. That could be changing very soon.
Now, as for the potential promotion to Triple-A. Murphy was drafted in 2019 and made 10 appearances in Rookie ball (33 1/3 innings). 2020 was a wash, obviously. Then he started last season in High-A, tossing 68 1/3 innings there (14 appearances) before getting moved up to Double-A (and tossing 33 innings there).
He’s now thrown 32 innings in Double-A this year, meaning he has 65 innings combined there. The University of San Diego product has been breezing through the minors. No time spent in Low-A. And now he’s just 3 1/3 innings away from the amount of time he spent in High-A.
With how well he’s been pitching, Murphy is clearly showing that he’s up to the challenge. So why not move him up to Triple-A soon? Give him a chance to get acclimated now. Then next season he can be knocking on the door of the Majors, ready to get the call.