Nationals’ Daniel Murphy voted NL Outstanding Player in Players’ Choice Awards

The fact that he was voted the NL Outstanding Player by his peers as part of the MLB Players’ Choice Awards meant a lot to Washington Nationals’ infielder Daniel Murphy.

“That is the most humbling part of this award,” Murphy said on the awards broadcast on Wednesday night.

“I really am completely honored and humbled. One of the things I’ve said in my career before is ‘I don’t know that I’ll always play well, but I hope they say I always play hard,’ and to be recognized by my peers, the best players on the planet, to be voted for this award, it truly is a humbling experience. Words can’t really describe it, because I think that for me is the highest praise a player can get, when you’re recognized by your peers, because these are guys that I compete with on a daily basis, and I know how good they are and for them to go out of their way and vote for me for an award like this it is truly an honor.”

As part of the award, the Players Trust will donate $20,000 to a charity of Murphy’s choosing, though he said he had not yet decided on a particular charity.

Murphy finished the first year of his 3-year/$37.5M deal in D.C. with a .347/.390/.595 line and career highs in doubles (47), triples (5) and home runs (25) over 142 games and 582 plate appearances in a 5.5 fWAR campaign.

Murphy is, of course, also a finalist for the NL MVP, as voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He talked about his success in the last two seasons during the NLDS, giving a lot of the credit to his teammates in New York and Washington.

“I know that one of the first things that I've been fortunate to be in is in a really good spot in two really good lineups,” Murphy said.

“Especially last year, the second half of the year in New York, it was a really, really formidable lineup.

“You look again, I think today is a culmination of what we have done this year over the course of 162 games and Dusty [Baker] keeps putting me in the middle of it.

“So I get to reap the benefits of guys on base in front of me and guys swinging the bat well behind me.”

The winner of the 2016 NL MVP will be announced on November 17th.