Penn Murfee

American baseball player (born 1994)

Baseball player
Penn Murfee
Houston Astros
Pitcher
Born: (1994-05-02) May 2, 1994 (age 29)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 29, 2022, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record5–2
Earned run average2.70
Strikeouts92
Teams

William Penn Murfee (born May 2, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners.

Career

Amateur career

Murfee attended Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee.[1] Undrafted out of high school in 2013, Murfree attended Vanderbilt University.[2] Murfee redshirted his freshman season, and played college baseball for the Commodores for three seasons.[2] Murfee was an infielder his first two seasons, before converting to pitching for his final year at Vanderbilt.[1] Murfee transferred to Santa Clara University for his redshirt senior season.[2]

Seattle Mariners

Murfee was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 33rd round, with the 988th overall selection, of the 2018 Major League baseball (MLB) draft.[3]

He spent the 2018 season with the Everett AquaSox, going 3–2 with a 6.55 ERA over 33 innings. In 2019, he split between the Modesto Nuts, Arkansas Travelers, and Tacoma Rainiers, going a combined 6–5 with a 3.57 ERA and 136 strikeouts over 113+13 innings.[4] Murfee received the Mariners 2019 minor league "60 ft., 6-in Club” Award.[5]

After the season, he played for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League.[6] And also, on October 10, 2019, he was selected for the United States national baseball team at the 2019 WBSC Premier 12.[7] Murfee did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] In 2021, he split the season between Double-A Arkansas and Triple-A Tacoma, posting a 7-3 record and 4.23 ERA with 97 strikeouts in 78.2 innings pitched across 26 appearances (14 starts). He was assigned to Tacoma to begin the 2022 season.

On April 20, 2022, Murfee was added to the Mariners active roster.[9] Murfee was unused out of the Mariners bullpen in the six days he spent on the active roster, and was removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A on April 27. Due to his time spent on Seattle’s active roster, but no major league playing time, Murfee became a phantom ballplayer.[10] The following day, Murfee was re-selected to the 40-man and active rosters.[11] He made his MLB debut on April 29, 2022, pitching against the Miami Marlins and recording his first two strikeouts.[12] He made 64 appearances for Seattle in his rookie campaign, pitching to a 4-0 record and 2.99 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 69.1 innings of work.

Murfee pitched in 16 contests for Seattle in 2023, registering a 1.29 ERA with 16 strikeouts across 14.0 innings of work. On June 27, 2023, it was announced that Murfee would undergo season–ending surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament.[13]

Houston Astros

On October 31, 2023, Murfee was claimed off waivers by the New York Mets.[14] On November 14, Murfee was once again claimed off waivers, this time by the Atlanta Braves.[15] The Braves non-tendered him on November 17,[16] and he re-signed with Atlanta on November 30. He was then placed on release waivers by the Braves on March 25, 2024[17] On March 27, Murfee was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Ben Weinrib (August 29, 2019). "MLB fall league taps three ex-Vandy players". NashvillePost.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c "PennMurfee bio". Santa Clara University. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  3. ^ Tom Kreager and Erik Bacharach (June 4, 2018). "2018 MLB draft: Who has been selected with Tennessee connections". The Tennessean. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. ^ Emily Waldon (October 25, 2019). "Five standouts to watch from each team in the Arizona Fall League's West Division". The Athletic. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Greg Johns (September 27, 2019). "Kelenic receives Griffey honor during Seattle visit". MLB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Mike Rosenbaum (October 9, 2019). "Murfee earns AFL Pitcher of the Week honors". MLB.com. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Kyle Glaser (October 25, 2019). "Bobby Dalbec Brings The Power For Team USA". Baseball America. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  8. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  9. ^ PR, Mariners (April 20, 2022). "Mariners Select RHP Penn Murfee from Triple-A Tacoma". Medium. Retrieved April 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "Mariners' Penn Murfee: Retreats to minors". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  11. ^ "Mariners' Penn Murfee: Rejoins major-league club". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  12. ^ "Penn Murfee K's 2 in debut | 04/29/2022". MLB.com.
  13. ^ "Seattle Mariners Get Very Disappointing Injury Updates on a Trio of Pitchers". si.com. Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  14. ^ Divish, Ryan (October 31, 2023). "Mariners reliever Penn Murfee claimed off waivers by Mets". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  15. ^ "Braves claim Murfee, designate Chirinos for assignment". Atlanta Journal Constitution. November 14, 2023. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  16. ^ Toscano, Justin (November 17, 2023). "Braves non-tender Michael Tonkin, Kolby Allard, five others". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  17. ^ "Braves sign pitcher Jesse Chavez to minor league deal, giving veteran chance for 5th stint with team". Atlanta Journal Constitution. March 25, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  18. ^ "Astros Claim Penn Murfee From Braves". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved March 27, 2024.

External links

  • Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
  • Vanderbilt Commodores bio
  • Santa Clara Broncos bio
  • Penn Murfee on Twitter
  • Penn Murfee on Instagram
  • v
  • t
  • e
Vanderbilt Commodores 2014 College World Series champions
Head coach: Tim Corbin
Assistant coach: Travis Jewett
Volunteer assistant: Drew Hedman
Regular season
NCAA tournament
College World Series
  • v
  • t
  • e
United States roster2019 WBSC Premier12
  • v
  • t
  • e
Houston Astros current roster
Active roster
Inactive roster
Injured list
60-day Injured list
Coaching staff
  • Manager 19 Joe Espada
  • Bench coach 22 Omar López
  • First base 23 Dave Clark
  • Third base 8 Gary Pettis
  • Hitting 37 Alex Cintrón
  • Assistant Hitting 46 Troy Snitker
  • Pitching 41 Bill Murphy
  • Bullpen 36 Josh Miller
  • Quality control -- Jason Bell
  • Catching Coach 29 Michael Collins
  • Bullpen catcher 85 Javier Bracamonte