Chris Murphy gets the call he's always dreamt of: a promotion to the Boston Red Sox

WORCESTER — Chris Murphy was on his way to an escape room in Boston Monday night when WooSox manager Chad Tracy called to tell the left-hander he was being called up to the Boston Red Sox.

“He was choked up, for sure, when I told him,” Tracy said prior to Tuesday’s game with the Rochester Red Wings. “Big-time surprise, and it’s always fun to tell somebody for the first time that they're getting that opportunity. So it was really, really cool.”

Murphy, 25, is ranked among the Red Sox’ top-15 prospects by Baseball America (No. 13) and MLB.com (No. 14). The left-hander saw action in 10 games (nine starts) for Worcester this season, going 1-3 with a 7.71 ERA across 39-2/3 innings.

Murphy last pitched Thursday in Louisville, allowing one hit in three scoreless innings of relief with three strikeouts and no walks.

“Murph was exceptional out of the ‘pen the other day,” Tracy said. “... It was by far and away the best outing I've seen him have in his two years here.”

Selected by Boston in the sixth round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of San Diego, Murphy has posted a 4.36 ERA (158 ER/326-1/3 IP) in 71 minor league appearances, holding opponents to a .236 batting average.

To make room for Murphy on the roster, the Red Sox optioned right-handed pitcher Kaleb Ort back to Worcester.

“It’s really cool from my perspective because he’s been carving people up the last couple of weeks,” WooSox catcher Caleb Hamilton said. “I was happy to see him come out of the ‘pen and kind of accept that role and just be like ‘Hey, you get one time through the order (and) you’re going to do as much damage as you can through the strike zone,’ and he did just that, so I'm super, super happy for him.”

Ironically enough, Hamilton was set to go to the escape room with Murphy on Monday before the left-hander received the good news from his manager. Murphy then had to excuse himself from the off-day plans in Boston to find a way to Cleveland to join the Red Sox on their road trip.

“It’s not very often where you get to be with somebody on an off day, and they get the call to the big leagues,” Hamilton said.

“Very happy for him,” Tracy said.

— Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Red Sox pitcher Chris Murphy called up to Boston Red Sox