Baseball’s Four to Flourish in 2021-22: Kai Murphy

No Arizona State baseball player has spent more time around the storied program than Kai Murphy. The son of former legendary head coach Pat Murphy, Kai is going into his second season in Tempe with lofty expectations.

Murphy grew up in Mesa, starring at Red Mountain high school where he graduated in 2019. He began his collegiate baseball career in Corvallis at Oregon State. After just one pandemic shortened season with the Beavers, Murphy opted to come home and play for his native Sun Devils.

This past season was an up and down year for Murphy. He posted disappointing offensive numbers while seeing sporadic playing time in right field. The redshirt freshman batted just .192 while accumulating a .561 OPS. He collected 15 hits, and launched two home runs.

In 2022, look for Murphy to flourish in an expanded role as he will likely be the everyday starter in right field. New head coach Willie Bloomquist will enjoy not only Murphy’s versatility as an outfielder, but also as a pitcher. The southpaw logged just 14.1 innings this past season, but with a number of ASU left handed arms perhaps headed for the professional ranks, Murphy could be in line for a lot more innings in 2022.

With a completely new coaching staff in place next season, Murphy will level up for the new look Sun Devils.