WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Daniel Murphy was playing against the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series last October when he felt something wasn’t right with his knee.
“This is more significant than I thought,” recalled the 32-year-old slugger, standing in the Nationals‘ spring training clubhouse late Tuesday afternoon. “That’s unusual; that probably shouldn’t happen.”
A few days later, the Nationals were eliminated from the postseason, falling 9-8 in a gut-wrenching Game 5 to the Cubs at Nationals Park on Oct. 13.
About a week later, Murphy had microfracture surgery on his right kneecap.