PHOENIX — After running 10 sprints to and through first base Friday afternoon, Daniel Murphy plopped himself on the ground, started unlacing his sneakers and looked over at Director of Medical Services Harvey Sharman, who had dictated the workout.
“You’re killing me,” Murphy said with a smile, visibly out of breath, seemingly sore — but in a good way. Murphy had not sprinted like that since rejoining the Nationals from West Palm Beach, Fla., a good sign that he is progressing, if not close.
Murphy ran 10 sprints in between rounds of batting practice with his teammates. He took groundballs at second base. His gait did not look normal as he ran, but that seemed to be by design. Sharman would yell various points of focus to Murphy after each sprint, and he would describe his feeling. Once, he said he didn’t think his knee was catching up. Another time, Sharman reminded him to “drive” the injured knee around first base as he would up the line. In other words, Murphy seems to be retraining his muscles to sprint again. Friday looked like a big step.
Since Murphy did that work in batting practice, neither he nor his manager was available to discuss exactly how much of a step that workout represented. Since he could not do more than 10 sprints before joking about a near-death experience, a return to gameplay probably isn’t imminent. But he is hitting on the field regularly, fielding with his usual agility and apparently — finally — making progress running. He is certainly on the way.
His teammates seem to know it. As he sprinted and took turns, those around him stopped to watch. Hitting coach Kevin Long nodded approvingly. On one particularly vigorous turn around first base, a few of his teammates hollered, “Keep going Murph!” and “Run out the homer!” They, like anyone invested in the offensive future of this team, understand the impact Murphy can have when he returns. He might not be sprinting back, but he is certainly picking up speed.
Read more on the Nationals: