A Bona Fide Pitching Nerd, Chris Murphy Is a Red Sox Prospect on the Rise

Chris Murphy is gaining helium. A sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft out of San Diego State University, the 24-year-old southpaw was No. 38 on our Red Sox Top Prospects list going into last season, with a modest 35+ FV. But on the heels of a 2022 campaign that saw him excel in 15 starts with Double-A Portland and then hold his own in 15 more with Triple-A Worcester, this year he will be moving up to the 14–16 range with a 40 FV, per our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen. He also just participated in Boston’s Rookie Development Program, which focuses on easing the transition into MLB — an indication that Murphy could be in Boston as soon as this summer.

A self-proclaimed nerd who is well-versed in his vertical approach angle and pitch metrics, Murphy discussed his craft earlier this week at Fenway Park.

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David Laurila: Let’s start with who are you as a pitcher. How do you get outs?

Chris Murphy: “That’s a good question. There have been times in my career where it’s very fastball heavy — come at you fastball/changeup primarily and then curveball/slider secondarily. I’ve generally been aggressive with the fastball up in the zone. I have good vertical break, good two-plane, and a pretty decent vertical approach angle. That’s why I get swings and misses up in the zone and why my changeup plays down in the zone. Using that to my advantage, being a shorter pitcher, is something that’s given me a career to this point. That and throwing from the left side.”

Laurila: How tall are you?

Murphy: “The book will say 6-[foot]-1, but I’m probably just under six feet. I weigh about 185, so I’m not the biggest guy.”

Laurila: You said that you get good vertical but also two-plane. Can you elaborate?

Murphy: “Yes, I get both ride and run. There are days where my fastball is more true and it’s just ride, but ride and run is ideally where I like it to be. And then with the changeup, it’s about killing the spin, killing the vert, and adding more horizontal. The goal this year is to be under six vertical and negative-18–19 horizontal.”

Laurila: When did you learn about vertical approach angle?

Murphy: “About two years ago, kind of before it was really a thing. You can’t really teach it unless you change an arm slot, but if you’re a shorter guy who is naturally blessed with a pretty decent VAA, I think it’s one of the most overlooked things that hitters need to deal with.”

Laurila: How did you learn about it?

Murphy: “I’m kind of a nerd. I like looking at TrackMan, and I follow Ben Brewster, the @TreadAthletics guy, on Twitter. I find all of these interesting stats, the spin inefficiencies and axises and stuff like that.

“My first pitching coach was Jim Wagner, in Southern California. We started using Rapsodo back in 2013 or 2014, when I was in high school. Then TrackMan turned into a thing once I hit college-ish time, so I learned how that all works as well — what kind of data can I learn from, things you can’t see with the human eye.

“So the vertical approach angle thing is something I sort of discovered on my own. I hadn’t seen anybody paying attention to that. I talked to Andrew Politi about it — he’s now with the Orioles — and he was big on the vertical approach. He talked about how it can makes guys much better pitchers. They don’t look great on paper, but they get hitters out because they have that.”

Laurila: It’s not just pure velocity and pitch movement.

Murphy: “Exactly. It doesn’t matter how nasty my stuff is if I’m not getting guys out. I’ve kind of put movement profiles to the side a little bit and focused on sequencing and commanding the zone, how to work it properly, because I know that when I get back to pitch design stuff, it will be there.”

Laurila: Before we started talking [on the record], you told me that you weren’t necessarily that much of a nerd. You maybe undersold that a bit.

Murphy: “Yeah, maybe a little. I originally wanted to go to college for biomechanics. So I kind of dove deep into analytics in baseball. That’s how someone like me gets a job these days. Everybody else is 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, and throws really hard. I’m not the biggest or strongest guy, so I have to take advantage of what I can.”

Laurila: You obviously think about pitching a lot. What have you actually changed?

Murphy: “This past offseason, I’ve changed my basic first movement, my first leg-lift movement, to stay in my legs, stay more composed. I need to get in the zone and stay in the zone, knowing that as I throw harder throughout the start, I’ll get more ride and swings in the zone. I just need to trust my stuff.”

Laurila: How much spin do you get?

Murphy: “On my four-seam, 2,300–2,400 RPMs, so maybe just a tick above the major league average. I think there are between 18 and 21 inches of induced vertical. And then the separation with my changeup, curveball, and slider… I’m trying to have the slider be closer to zero or negative-one, the changeup three to five, and the curveball negative-12, negative-13. The slider isn’t super-high spin, it’s cutter-ish, and with the change, it’s about killing the spin.”

Laurila: Can you say a little more about your changeup?

Murphy: “Well, I want it to be like Zack Kelly’s. He has one of the best changeups in baseball. It’s a Bugs Bunny changeup. But it’s a very niche group of people who throw that. Mine… it’s a four-seam grip, the same exact grip that Max Scherzer has. I actually learned it through the Pitching Ninja dropbox. I found that it works by keeping pressure on my ring finger and thumb, and pronating.”

Laurila: What about your curveball and your slider?

Murphy: “The curveball I’ve kept the same since I was about 12 years old. It’s a spiked curveball in the horseshoe, and I throw it with a stiff wrist. The slider I picked up this past season from my Double-A pitching coach [Lance Carter]. Jay Groome and I learned it at the same time. I wanted a firmer slider. I didn’t want it to blend with the curveball; I wanted the movement profiles to be different. Having that in-between velo, something that I can command between 84 and 87, is what I’m looking for.”

Laurila: Where is your fastball velocity?

Murphy: “Right now it’s like 90–91. In season we’re hoping for 92–94. But you don’t have to throw hard to get guys out. Velocity obviously helps, but if you have good vertical, it looks harder than it is.”

Laurila: Circling back to your approach angle, do you comp to anyone?

Murphy: “I haven’t really looked at data comps on vertical approach, but Julio Urías is someone that we’ve looked at in terms of the pitch mix and how he goes about it. We’re similar in build — he’s a little bit bigger than me — and have similar metrics and shapes. I’m not saying he’s my idol as a pitcher, but he’s someone I watch. I like to see how he sequences guys, and I like how confident he is out there.”

Laurila: Any final thoughts?

Murphy: “Just that I try to be not so cerebral on the mound. I’m cerebral up until the point that I step on the mound, and then I’m kind of unconscious. The wheels aren’t spinning anymore. I’m just out there pitching.”