Murphy's law with A's is to be available every day

OAKLAND >> It was one of the rare days where Athletics catcher Sean Murphy was powerless to make a difference.

Mark Kotsay, the A's manager, determined Wednesday was the time for Murphy to take a seat rather than play in what turned out to be a 14-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

The reasoning was beyond reproach. Murphy, whether he admitted it or not, needed a break. The A's were playing a day game following a night game, and an off day Thursday meant two full days of rest after playing in 37 of the previous 39 games -- 29 as a catcher.

At one point Wednesday, catcher Christian Bethancourt took a foul tip and was being tended to by trainers. Out popped Murphy from the runway, fully prepared to tool up. Murphy is good at a lot of things, as evidenced by his Gold Glove award as the American League's top defensive catcher in 2021.

Sitting, however, is not one of them. Murphy loathes being a non-participant.

“I feel useless sitting on the bench,” Murphy said. “I want to be penciled in.”

When the A's begin a six-game road trip Friday night against the Los Angeles Angels, Murphy will return to his rightful place behind the plate. He's 27, in his prime, and one of the best at his craft in Major League Baseball by any standard. While Murphy has undoubtedly arrived as a catcher, he's still finding his way as a hitter.

With a .189/.240/.371 slash line, Murphy was grateful to see a bloop single that measured all of 59.3 miles per hour fall in to bring home two runs in Tuesday night's 5-2 win over the Twins. He's hit in some tough luck: According to Baseball Savant, Murphy's average should be 40 points higher at .228, when factoring in the exit velocity of balls off the bat.