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St. Paul Saints

Star on Diamond Back with Saints as All-Star Outfielder Max Murphy Returns

June 17, 2020 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - He led the league in nearly every major offensive category over the first half of the season. He was on pace to shatter the franchise home run record. He was selected to the 2019 American Association All-Star Game. And then the Arizona Diamonbacks took notice. Outfielder Max Murphy had one of the more impressive 50 game stretches in franchise history and showcased his talents at three different Minor League levels. He will once again patrol the outfield at CHS Field this season as the St. Paul Saints re-signed the Robbinsdale native.

The 27-year-old Murphy was a two-time American Association Player of the Week, hit .343 with 17 home runs and 43 RBI in 50 games for the Saints in 2019. In 213 at bats he scored 44 runs, ripped 13 doubles, one triple, stole 12 bases, had a .406 on base percentage, and a .653 slugging percentage. At the time of his contract getting purchased he led the league in runs, total bases (139), hits (73), home runs, and slugging percentage, was tied for first in extra base hits (31), second in RBI, tied for third in average, and fifth in stolen bases.

Prior to signing with the Diamondbacks he left the Saints on a 12-game hitting streak. He also went through a stretch of seven straight multi-hit games from June 17-23, which included two, four-hit games. During that stretch he doubled in five of six and homered in four of six. He homered in back-to-back games four times, nearly matching his career total of six back-to-back homer stretches in his five-year career. Murphy set a career high on June 17 at Sioux Falls with seven RBI. He also set a career high with three stolen bases on July 9 at Kansas City.

While with the Diamondbacks he played at three separate levels: High-A Visalia, Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Reno. Between all three stops Murphy hit .278 with two home runs and six RBI in 24 games. In 79 at bats he scored 10 runs, had four doubles, with a .321 on base percentage and a .405 slugging percentage. On July 31 he was called up to Reno from Visalia and in his only game there until a call up in August, he went 2-4 with a home run.

Murphy did it both offensively and defensively for the Saints in 2018. He hit .319 with seven home runs and 68 RBI in 98 games. In 427 at bats he roped 31 doubles, five triples, 32 walks, swiped 10 bases in 12 opportunities, with a .373 on base percentage, a .464 slugging percentage, for a .836 OPS. His 136 hits were the most ever by a Saints player, breaking the 128 set by Adam Olow in 2004 and the 31 doubles trailed only Jason Cooper's 38 in 2010. Murphy led the league in at bats, which was also a franchise record, second in doubles, third in hits, tied for third in total bases (198), and tied for ninth in average. He finished tied for second in outfield assists with 10. Murphy was also third in the sabermetric stat runs created, at 72.5, which estimates a player's offensive contribution in terms of total runs.

His season was highlighted by a career high 16-game hitting streak from July 14-August 1 and he reached base safely in 22 straight games from July 8-August 1. Murphy had another double-digit hitting streak when he hit safely in 12-straight from August 8-20. He tied a career high with an RBI in six straight from August 11-17 and broke his career high by scoring a run in 10-straight from August 8-17. He tied two other personal bests by collecting four-hits in a game, which he did twice, and five RBI on August 5 vs. Kansas City, which he then broke in 2019. In the playoffs Murphy hit safely in six straight games and hit .267 in eight games.

Murphy was a ninth-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2014 out of Bradley University and made his mark immediately with an incredible five weeks at Low-A Elizabethton where he was named the league's Player of the Year and a Post-Season All-Star. He hit .378 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI in 35 games. In 119 at bats he scored 34 runs, had seven doubles, two triples, a .483 on base percentage, a .723 slugging percentage, for a mind boggling 1.206 OPS. He finished first in the league in slugging and second in home runs, despite playing just 35 games. He reached base safely in his first 22 professional games from June 19-July 13. Murphy had a 12-game hitting streak from June 20-July 4, scored a run in an incredible eight straight from June 23-July 1, and an RBI in six straight from June 24-30. He homered in back-to-back games on three different occasions and had two triples in a game on June 30. He was promoted to Single-A Cedar Rapids on July 28 and hit .242 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 32 games. Murphy hit safely in 11-straight from July 30-August 9. His team lost two-games-to-none in the semi-finals to the Kane County Cougars.

In 2015 Murphy spent the entire season at Cedar Rapids where he hit .225 with four home runs and 36 RBI in 93 games. In 347 at bats he scored 54 runs, ripped 15 doubles, had a career high eight triples, a .302 on base percentage, and a .349 slugging percentage. His hottest streak came from May 4-11 when he was named the Hitter of the Week. He collected a multi-hit game in five of six games, including two, three-hit performances. The Kernels made the playoffs, but lost in the Championship Series three-games-to-two to the West Michigan Whitecaps.

After starting 2016 at Cedar Rapids, Murphy was promoted to Fort Myers on April 28 and hit .257 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 49 games. Unfortunately, he was injured from July 2-August 9. Prior to going on the disabled list, and then doing a three-game rehab stint at the Gulf Coast level, Murphy was hitting .282.

Murphy split the 2017 season between High-A Fort Myers and Double-A Chattanooga where he earned accolades at both stops. In Fort Myers he hit .307 with five home runs and 34 RBI in 78 games. In 300 at bats he scored 52 runs, slugged 16 doubles, three triples, stole nine bases, with a .390 on base percentage, and a .430 slugging percentage. He was named a Florida State League Post-Season All-Star as an outfielder. Murphy had a season high 11-game hitting streak from June 22-July 4 that included three, three-hit games and a four-hit game. He had a career high, at the time, five RBI on June 14. He had an incredible 11 games with three of more hits. Murphy was promoted to Chattanooga on July 8 and hit .252 with a home run and 28 RBI in 52 games. In 206 games he scored 28 runs, roped 13 doubles, three triples, had a .317 on base percentage, and a .359 slugging percentage. Murphy was awarded the MiLB "Rawlings Gold Glove Award" for right field. His 80 runs scored were a career high. The Lookouts were co-champions in the Southern League after defeating the Pensacola Blue Wahoos three-games-to-two. The Championship series was cancelled due to Hurricane Irma.

Murphy played baseball, football, and soccer at Robbinsdale Cooper High School and earned 5-AAA All-Section Honors as a freshman. While at Bradley University he twice made ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays, on back-to-back nights, during the State Farm MVC Tournament. Both were on the defensive side in center field: a diving catch in right-center field and an over the shoulder grab racing towards the warning track.

This is the 13th off-season signing for the Saints.

Roster

RHP Tanner Kiest

RHP Eddie Medina

RHP Daniel Minor

RHP Matt Quintana

RHP Matt Solter

RHP Ryan Zimmerman

INF Josh Allen

INF Telvin Nash

INF John Silviano

INF Chesny Young

OF Michael Lang

OF Dan Motl

OF Max Murphy

The start of 2020 American Association season, which was scheduled to begin on May 19, was postponed due to COVID-19. The league will announce a new schedule, set to get underway at the beginning of July, in the coming weeks.

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