Fisher Cats pitcher
Joey Murray
New Hampshire Fisher Cats pitcher Joey Murray, who lost last season to an elbow injury and the previous season to the Covid shutdown, led the entire Toronto Blue Jays organization with 11.39 strikeouts per nine innings in 2019 with his ‘invisiball’ pitch. (Photo by Kristin Basnett)
More than 40 players from the Double-A Eastern League New Hampshire Fisher Cats have gone on to play major league baseball. Among them are current Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Travis d’Arnaud, who had a pair of home runs for the Atlanta Braves in the 2021 World Series.
The Blue Jays are the parent club of the Fisher Cats, and Fisher Cats righthanded pitcher Joey Murray is currently ranked the No. 24 prospect in the organization, according to mlb. com. He was an 8th round draft pick (236th overall) in the 2018 amateur draft after playing collegiately for the Kent State Golden Flashes in Ohio. Murray was impressive in 2019, leading the entire Blue Jays organization with 11.39 strikeouts per nine innings. He didn’t do it with speed. His go-to pitch has been dubbed the “invisiball,” a high-rotation fastball that fools the batter with its spin and rise.
Minor league baseball lost its entire 2020 season to Covid, and Murray also lost last year to an elbow injury. Murray says the elbow is fine and counts having fun as a goal for this season.
Q. When did you first think about becoming a professional? Was it when you were drafted?
A. A little bit before that. I didn’t realize I had a shot at becoming a professional player until my sophomore year at college. I was good from my senior year of high school on, but never realized just how good I was until the agents and the scouts started calling me.
Q. You have a unique pitch called the invisiball. Can you explain the mechanics of it?
A. It’s a reference to my fastball. I have a high spin rate. The amount of spin on it helps the ball defy gravity more so than the other pitches and pitchers … A lot of it is the release point. I’m pretty far down the mound. I’m pretty close to ground level, so I’m throwing from a lower angle. I hold it like a four-seam fastball. Like with sinkerball pitchers, they say it’s your fingerprint.
Whatever you have you have.
Q. I noticed on video that you have a wicked “12 to 6” overhand curveball. Are you still working on your secondary pitches?
A. For sure. The main thing now is just consistency with release and getting them in the strike zone. All my pitches move a ton. My main one I’m throwing right now is a breaking ball. It’s like a slider, but a little bit slower. It has a ton of horizontal movement. The curveball is straight up and down, and the change-up is basically left to right.
Q. We have sabermetrics today and all kinds of stats that we didn’t have even 10 years ago. Are there one or two you follow more closely?
A. Not really. I look into analytics and stuff like that, but I try not to get too involved, because when I’m out there pitching, the hitter doesn’t care what your analytics are or what your metrics are. They see the ball and they’re going to try to hit the ball. I look at it more like a baseline for myself. If I go out there for one start and my fastball just doesn’t feel right, I can go back to what my metrics are and find I was cutting it really hard. I care about what the hitter thinks, not what the numbers say.
Q. You were out all of last year with an elbow injury. Did you have surgery?
A. No, I avoided surgery. I had a partial tear of my UCL (ulnar collateral ligament). It was a grade one, small, so we decided to rehab it. No surgery. No shots. It’s the ligament that can require Tommy John surgery. It’s the one right across the inside of your elbow. It’s feeling good now. Really good. I first pitched this year in Portland, which was the last place I pitched in 2019. It’s good to have everything full circle and to pick up exactly where I left off.
Q. What are your goals for this year?
A. Just to have fun. I used to put so much pressure on myself, and I felt like I was never able to really enjoy it. I’m playing a game for a living. I’m not going to be able to do this forever. I don’t want to look back and realize I was miserable the entire time because of the pressure I put on myself. I’m thinking if I’m like this now, when I’m in the big leagues I want to enjoy it.
Q. What makes a good teammate?
A. We’re all competing for the same jobs, and I think one of the big things about being a good teammate is being genuinely happy for guys that are doing better than you, for guys that are getting promotions. We spend so much time together. These are all our friends. It would be miserable if you’re always jealous of everybody else.
