Bio
Ohio native Joey Murray comes to the Explorers after signing to open spring training with the X’s on May 1. Murray was a two-time MAC Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and 2018 at Kent State and was a Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist in 2018. His stellar collegiate career led to the Toronto Blue Jays calling his name in 8th round of the 2018 MLB draft. Murray would spend five years in the Blue Jays system, reaching AA. He comes to Sioux City after injuries slowed his rise through the Toronto ladder in 2021 and 2022.
Last season he would start the season on the 60-day injured list on March 31 before he was sent to his rehabilitation assignment in the Florida Complex League on June 10. He would work just 3.1 innings in four games, giving up four hits and four earned runs before being sent on a second rehab assignment at class A Dunedin on June 24. Murray pitched 11.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA in nine relief appearances with 10 strikeouts. He surrendered eight hits and five earned runs and recorded one save. Toronto would move Murray to the Dunedin active roster on July 25, but he was released by the Blue Jays organization on July 29.
Murray had a tough go on the injury front after missing the 2020 season due to the cancelation of the minor league season. Murray had a promising start to the 2021 season with an invite to the Blue Jays Spring Training camp in Dunedin, Florida. He would eventually be assigned to AAA Buffalo as was slated to begin the season with the Bison but was placed on the 7-day injured list on May 3 before joining the team for opening day. Toronto would send Murray on a rehab assignment where he would make just one appearance in 2021 at the rookie-level FCL, working just 0.2 innings. Murray would suffer an elbow strain that would shut him down for the rest of the 2021 season.
His 2022 season began at AA as part of the starting rotation for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. In five games making four starts, the righty worked in 20.2 inning with a 1-1 record and a 7.84 ERA. He would yield 16 hits and 18 earned runs with 13 walks. He did strikeout 23 with a 1.403 WHIP, but once again, his season would be cut short. Murray would undergo Tommy John surgery in May, ending his season.
In 2019 Murray began the year with A-level Lansing, going 3-1 with a 3.82 ERA. He would punch out 40 in 30.1 innings with a 1.303 WHIP. Toronto would move him the first of two times up the ladder in 2019. At high A Dunedin he would win five games against two losses, making 11 starts with one relief appearance for the team. He tossed 63 innings with 77 strikeouts with a sparkling 1.71 ERA and a 0.937 WHIP. Murray finished with the third lowest ERA and strikeout total for the Blue Jays. Toronto then sent him to AA New Hampshire on July 27 where he added another 43.2 innings of work with eight starts and another game out of the pen. Murray went 2-4 with a 3.50 ERA with 52 strikeouts. He would go 10-7 for the season combined with a 2.75 ERA in 137.1 innings and 169 strikeouts.
After Toronto selected Murray in the 2018 draft, he would start the season at short-season A Vancouver in 2018. He tossed 25.2 innings, going 1-1 with a 1.75 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 13 games (six starts). That came on the heels of his final season at Kent State where he would post a 9-2 record with a 2.45 ERA with 141 strikeouts in 95.1 innings. He would lead the team with 16 starts and nine wins. His ERA also was top on the Golden Flashes stat sheet, and his strikeout total set a MAC single season record of 141.
In 2017 Murray became the most decorated Kent State underclassman in program history after going 6-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 14 starts. He would strikeout 110 in 75 innings with just 31 walks. Murray would toss three shutouts and hold batters to a .204 average against. During his freshman season of 2016, Murray would go 2-1 with a 3.69 ERA in 12 games while making six starts.
Murray was a three-year varsity member of Coffman High School in his hometown of Dublin. He went 8-1 with just one earned run in 69 innings and 97 strikeouts his senior year and was named All-State, First Team All-Conference and Conference Player of the Year as a senior.