Bill Murphy

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name = Billy Murphy
team = Toronto Blue Jays
number = --
position = Relief pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1981|5|9
birthplace = city-state|Anaheim|California
bats = Left
throws = Left
debutdate = September 3
debutyear = 2007
debutteam = Arizona Diamondbacks
statyear = 2007
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 0-0
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 5.68
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 2
teams =
*Arizona Diamondbacks (by|2007)

William R.W. "Bill" Murphy (born May 9, 1981 in Anaheim, California) is a left-handed Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Murphy attended Arlington High School in Riverside, California. After graduating from high school, he attended CSU Northridge for 3 years. Before attending college, he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 24th round (738th overall) in the 1999 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign with them. He would later be drafted again by the Oakland Athletics in the 3rd round (98th overall) in the 2002 draft.

He spent two seasons in the Athletics organization. On December 23, 2003, he was named as the player to be named later that had sent Mark Redman to the Athletics and Mike Neu to the Florida Marlins in a trade on December 16, 2003.

Murphy began the 2004 season with the Carolina Mudcats, the Marlins Double-A affiliate. On July 30, 2004, Murphy was traded along with Hee-Seop Choi and Brad Penny to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Paul Lo Duca, Juan Encarnacion, and Guillermo Mota. The next day, on July 31, 2004, he was traded once again, this time to the Arizona Diamondbacks along with Koyie Hill and Reggie Abercrombie for Steve Finley and Brent Mayne. He finished the season with the Double-A El Paso Diablos.

Murphy spent the whole 2005 with the Triple-A Tucson Sidewinders but performed poorly as he had a 5.65 ERA in 23 games (21 starts). He began the 2006 season back in Double-A with the Tennessee Smokies. He would later be promoted back up to Triple-A.

In 2007, Murphy once again began the year in Triple-A. He started nine games in which he went 2-2 with a 4.05 ERA. He was mainly a relief pitcher however as he pitched 45 games out of the bullpen. He went 1-1 with a 3.35 ERA with 1 save out of the bullpen. His good performance earned him a September 1 callup by the big league club.

In 10 games for the Diamondbacks in 2007, he had a 5.68 ERA.

In by|2008, during spring training, the Diamondbacks designated Murphy for assignment and placed him on waivers. The Toronto Blue Jays claimed him off waivers on March 17. [ [http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080317&content_id=2433932&vkey=spt2008news&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor Jays pick up Murphy off waivers] ]

References

External links

* [http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=430889 mlb.com Player Profile]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/M/Bill-Murphy.shtml The Baseball Cube Player Profile]