Cubs looking to cool Murph off
CHICAGO — Kyle Hendricks, you’re up next.
The Cubs righthander will get his chance to do what few have been able to accomplish this postseason when he faces Daniel Murphy in Tuesday’s NLCS Game 3 at Wrigley Field.
Murphy has already homered five times during the playoffs — including in four straight games in a stretch Cubs president Theo Epstein called “Beltranesque.”
That would be Carlos Beltran, who seemingly never made an out during the 2004 postseason with Houston.
“Normally, it’s a guy who’s already a starlevel player,” Epstein said of postseason heroes. “Murphy is a really nice player, but he hasn’t — up to this point in his career — been that level player. But good for him.”
And bad for the Cubs — and Los Angeles in the NLDS, when Murphy’s hot streak began.
“He is as lockedin as can possibly be,” Epstein said. “He almost singlehandedly won that Dodgers series for them.”
That production caught the Cubs’ eye before the NLCS.
“A big part of our advance process focused on him and finding ways to not let him beat us,” Epstein said. “But we haven’t been successful so far.”
Murphy will enter Tuesday 10for28 with five homers, eight RBIs and a 1.308 OPS in the playoffs. He’s walked just once — an intentional walk that brought Yoenis Cespedes to the plate.
Murphy has also homered in four straight, as he continues to make a name for himself outside of New York.
“He’s a hardworking, scrappy player, who I’m sure has worked his way into this situation,” Epstein said. “It’s not like he fell out of bed [and got] lockedin. I tip my cap to him and hope he starts to cool off in a hurry.”
Hendricks could play a role in that.
While Murphy has feasted on the best of the best this postseason, the second baseman will face a different challenge against Hendricks, who has held him to one hit in six atbats.
Instead of one of the many Cy Young award winners — or candidates, at least — that Murphy has made look mortal, he and his teammates will instead go up against Hendricks. And no one is confusing Hendricks with Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke.
“Sometimes, the best thing to do is pick your spots,” Hendricks said. “See when guys are on base, when they’re not, when you can pitch around him. Regardless, when he comes up, you’ve definitely got to be careful. You can’t make any mistakes with him.”