Murphy begins his first season with the Ducks and 16th in professional baseball. The infielder has 12 seasons of Major League experience in his professional career, including seven with the New York Mets (2008-09, 2011-15), three with the Washington Nationals (2016-18), one with the Chicago Cubs (2018) and two with the Colorado Rockies (2019-20). He has played in 1,452 big league games, posting a .296 batting average, 138 home runs, 735 RBIs, 710 runs, 1,572 hits, 371 doubles, 29 triples, a .341 on-base percentage and a .796 OPS. He represented the National League at the MLB All-Star Game on three occasions (2014, ’16 and ‘17) and won two National League Silver Slugger Awards (2016-17). Murphy also finished second in the voting for National League Most Valuable Player in 2016 after leading the league in doubles (47), slugging percentage (.595) and OPS (.985), finishing behind only Chicago Cubs infielder Kris Bryant.

The Florida native has also appeared in 25 postseason games during his MLB career, compiling a .309 batting average with eight home runs, 19 RBIs, 21 runs, 30 hits, three doubles, 15 walks and a .986 OPS. In 2015, he led the Mets to their fifth World Series appearance in franchise history. He became the first player in Major League history to hit a home run in six consecutive postseason games and became the second player in league history to drive in at least one run in seven consecutive playoff games. He was named the National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player after batting .529 and homering in all four games of the Mets series sweep against the Chicago Cubs.

The 37-year-old made his Major League debut on August 2, 2008, against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. He went 1-for-4 with a run scored in the game, collecting his first MLB hit with a second inning single off three-time All-Star Roy Oswalt. His first big league home run came one week later at Shea Stadium when he launched a sixth inning two-run homer off Renyel Pinto in a win over the Florida Marlins. He is a two-time winner of the MLBPAA Mets Heart and Hustle Award (2013-14) and helped lead Team USA to the gold medal at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Murphy was originally selected by the Mets in the 13th round of the 2006 amateur draft out of Jacksonville University.