Oakland Athletics Mourn Sudden Death Of Pitcher Sean Murphy

The Oakland Athletics were surprised and saddened to learn of the death of minor league pitching prospect Sean Murphy.

The Oakland Athletics came to work on Monday to learn of the death of pitcher Sean Murphy. It was a death that was as sudden as it was surprising and left the organization reeling. Though a minor league prospect for the last six years, Murphy had a number of friends on the big league roster, guys he’s played with in the minors.

Murphy had not pitched since 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery – an injury he was still in the process of rehabbing from. On top of that, this past February, Major League Baseball suspended Murphy for 50 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Murphy was confirmed dead in Arizona, but no further details have been forthcoming about the cause of it.

Said A’s reliever Sean Doolittle in an interview:

"“I just can’t believe it. Sean was from the other side of Philly, so we bonded and hung out a lot. I saw him a lot during the offseason. He was one of the familiar faces there all the time. I feel awful for his family.”"

Stephen Vogt, who caught for Murphy while the two played with Triple-A Sacramento, remembered his friend:

"“Sean was a competitor, a guy who wanted to pitch, wanted the ball in his hand. So much tenacity, he always gave you everything he had, and he was a fun guy in the clubhouse, always happy, always smiling, always in a good mood.”"

Though Murphy had yet to taste big league action, he was borrowed for a spot start in a spring training game against the Texas Rangers a couple of years ago even though he wasn’t in camp. Being a game that came in late March, the Rangers had most of their regular starters in the lineup, so nobody expected too much.

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But Murphy held his own and did a fantastic job against one of the fiercest lineups in baseball. In 4-1/3 innings, Murphy gave up just one hit and set both Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre down on strikes. It was the highlight of his career to that point.

Said current bullpen coach and former A’s minor league pitching coordinator Scott Emerson about Murphy’s performance at the time: “That was a highlight for Sean. It really put him on the map. This is a really sad day for us.”

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The 27-year old Murphy was a thirty-third round selection out of Keystone College in MLB’s 2010 Draft. And in five minor league seasons, he went 32-32 and carried a 4.26 ERA.

It’s a sad day for many members of Oakland’s current roster and for the organization as a whole.