April 2: Murphy will miss “at least” a month, manager Bud Black tells Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). The Rockies are still awaiting an official second opinion on the injury.
April 1: Murphy has indeed been placed on the IL, with Pat Valaika called up to take his spot on the active roster. The team announced the injury as an avulsion fracture.
March 30, 10:00pm: There’s concern within the team that Murphy may have tendon or ligament damage, per Groke; if true, Murphy could miss “several weeks,” Groke writes (subscription required).
8:42pm: Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy has suffered a fractured left index finger, Nick Groke of The Athletic tweets. Murphy will see a specialist Monday, but he’s likely on his way to the 10-day injured list.
The 33-year-old Murphy incurred the injury Friday, marring a win over the Marlins and a 2-0 start for the Rockies. He sat out their loss to Miami on Saturday, when Ryan McMahon took the helm at first base. McMahon and Mark Reynolds could see the lion’s share of time at first as the Rockies await Murphy’s return. As of now, there’s no timetable for a comeback, per Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
Murphy is just a couple games into his tenure with the Rockies, who signed him to a two-year, $24MM contract over the winter. It was otherwise a quiet offseason for Colorado, which is counting on Murphy – formerly of the Mets, Nationals and Cubs – to offer a significant upgrade at first. Rockies first basemen finished the 2018 season second to last in the majors in fWAR (minus-1.9) and hit a horrid .224/.295/.388, owing to poor performances from McMahon, now-center fielder Ian Desmond and Pat Valaika. Murphy batted a respectable .299/.336/.454 in 351 PAs, on the other hand, and has provided consistently above-average offensive production throughout his career. That has been especially true since a breakout showing with the Mets in the 2015 postseason.