Chicago Cubs: Daniel Murphy leading offensive resurgence

In a stretch which saw the Chicago Cubs score five runs in five games, the team made a late-season acquisition in Daniel Murphy. Now, fresh off his first week as a Cub, Murphy is leading an offensive resurgence in Wrigleyville.

Last week, the Chicago Cubs set out on an arduous journey. The teams’ schedule did them no favors as they found themselves diving headfirst into a stretch of twenty-three straight games, without a day off. Needing to find some firepower, they decided to bring Murphy into the picture.

Before the trade which brought Murphy to the Northside, the team had hobbled to a 2-3 record in their previous five games, including five straight games in which they scored one run in each game. Now, however, the script has completely flipped.

Daniel Murphy has been bringing the offensive firepower and is showing what his contributions can mean for this lineup come October.

Chicago Cubs: The streak continues

The Cubs officially announced the acquisition of Murphy last Tuesday, the same day the Cubs fell to the Detroit Tigers 2-1, in the first of their lengthy 23-day sprint. Another frustrating performance marred by a lack of offense. Infuriating, to say the least, but turned out not to be a harbinger of things to come, however.

The following day, the first game for Murphy in a Cubs uniform, the offense erupted for eight runs in a victory. Nonetheless, it was only a matter of time before it happened. However, it was made clear that the newest addition helped to light a fire under the offenses tails’. Murphy went 2-for-5, scoring a run and adding an RBI. An auspicious debut, resulting in a win.

Murphy has now been with the Cubs for five games. The team has not lost since Murphy arrived. In an impressive display as an offensive juggernaut, Murphy is doing everything he can to help remind people how dangerous this Cubs team can be. Following a dominant 9-0 series sweeping finale versus the Cincinnati Reds, the team is on a roll and only beginning to pick up steam. On days Daniel Murphy finds himself in the lineup, the Cubs do not lose. Let’s hope he can continue to rake.

Chicago Cubs: Dominant beginnings

As mentioned above, Daniel Murphy currently has five games on his Chicago Cubs resume. Not an enormous sample size to play off of, however, within this sample size, Murphy has been nothing short of phenomenal.

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Since being traded to Chicago, Murphy is hitting .368/.368/.684 with two home runs and five RBI. Murphy also has scored a run in every single game as a Chicago Cub. What is incredibly intriguing and promising about Murphy is that he has struck out only twice since his arrival.

Looking more in-depth, Murphy is posting a video game-esque .445 wOBA and a 182 wRC+. These are numbers which you would expectedly see in MLB the Show, however, to see them in real life is mind-blowing. Nevertheless, they are real, and it is exciting.

Murphy has also posted multi-hit games in every single game as a Cub, except for one. However, he hammered a home run in that game so he can be let off the hook. For as much fun as it is to talk about Anthony Rizzo as the greatest leadoff hitter of all time (jokingly, of course), Daniel Murphy is not far behind him if he can keep this surge going.

The offense has been everything Cubs fans know it can be, over the previous five days. The team is on a five-game winning streak, and they are averaging 7.4 runs per game in this span. Over the past week, the club has also hit 12 home runs and ten doubles. It has been exciting to watch the addition of Murphy mesh well with the rest of the lineup to create runs once again.