Murfee is the 283rd former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Thunder Bay Border Cat Penn Murfee, made his Major League debut for the Seattle Mariners on Friday, April 29, 2022. Murfee is the 283rd former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Murfee, who played collegiately at Santa Clara University and Vanderbilt, played for the Thunder Bay Border Cats in 2015. He was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Mariners.
In 2015 with the Border Cats, Murfee played in nine games and hit .143 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI.
Murfee began his professional career in 2018 with the Everett AquaSox of the Short-Season A Northwest League. Over 19 games he was 3-2 with a 6.55 ERA. He had 23 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched and walked 12.
Murfee began the 2019 season with the Modesto Nuts of the Hi-A California League. After 26 games he was promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the AA Texas League. He would pitch in one game in Arkansas before ending his season with the Tacoma Rainiers of the AAA Pacific Coast League. For the season he appeared in 32 games and was 6-5 with a 3.57 ERA. He struck out 136 batters in 113.1 innings while walking 31.
Murfee started the 2021 season with Arkansas and then moved to Tacoma after 10 games. Overall, he was a combined 7-3 with a 4.23 ERA between the two clubs. In 78.2 innings he struck out 97 batters for a 11.1 SO/9 ratio.
Prior to his call-up to the Mariners, Murfee had pitched in five games with Tacoma and was 2-0 with 10 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA in 8.0 innings. In his Major League debut against the Marlins, he entered the game in the 7th inning and pitched two innings allowing no runs on no hits with two strikeouts.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 280 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
