For redshirt sophomore Kai Murphy, ASU has always been his home.
Growing up in the Valley and around the Sun Devil baseball team with his father Pat Murphy, Kai Murphy has learned a lot about what it takes to thrive as a ballplayer.
"You got to work harder than the other guys and believe in yourself because if you don't believe in yourself, no one will believe in you," Kai Murphy said.
Kai Murphy is an outfielder and pitcher on the ASU baseball team. He attended Red Mountain High School in Mesa and was a part of the class of 2019.
Originally an Oregon State Beaver his freshman year, Kai Murphy transferred to ASU in 2020, in hopes of receiving more playing time after receiving so little at Oregon State, where he only logged 4.1 innings and pitched to a 6.23 ERA. Knowing the city and background of Arizona State also fueled his decision.
"ASU was always in the back of my mind," Kai Murphy said. "I called up coach (Tracy) Smith and coach (Ben) Greenspan at the time, asking them to give me a chance. It worked out in the end as it allowed me to come home be around my dad and my little brothers."
Due to the cancelled 2020 season, Murphy received his freshman year of eligibility back, which he used in his first year at ASU in 2021, where he improved to a 4.50 ERA in 16 innings and racked up 31 hits and four home runs.
Murphy takes after his father, Pat, who was the head coach of the Sun Devils baseball team from 1995-2009, leading the program to the College World Series four times during his tenure.
With his father coaching the program, Kai Murphy spent his childhood around the storied program, meeting players and forming relationships.
Around the time Kai Murphy was six to seven years old, he became a batboy for the team, attending every game and sitting around the players. He studied their game plan and applied it to his own game.
"As a six-year-old, I was watching every pitch of a nine-inning game," Kai Murphy said. "Subconsciously, it was a big thing for me learning how to play the game and it's helped me build a baseball IQ down the road."
Being so familiar with the program, Kai Murphy would ask his father if his friends, Carson and Cole Tucker, could batboy with him. Kai Murphy would show them the ropes and go sit in the stands and watch the game from there, operating the radar gun from time to time.
Head coach Willie Bloomquist played under Pat Murphy during his tenure as a player at ASU, getting to know Kai as he was growing up and forming a bond with the player he is now coaching.
"Kai went wherever (Pat) went, and he was always around this program and this field," Bloomquist said. "To see things come full circle from him being a batboy, evolving as a young man and now being back here is obviously pretty special."
Despite being a family friend as Kai Murphy grew up, Bloomquist has told him he will not treat him any differently than other players on the roster.
"I won't let the relationship I have with (Pat) interfere with that," Bloomquist said. "I think I've managed that properly so far, obviously Kai is a piece to the puzzle, but how I treat Kai is like how I treat the other 33 guys in this clubhouse."
With all the lessons and advice Kai Murphy has picked up over the years, he credits his father's advice as being the most influential.
"The most important things are to be a great teammate and to love the game," Pat Murphy said. "There's an opportunity in every moment, keep going forward and stay relentless to get what you want."
With the ASU baseball program ranked 7th in the 2022 Pac-12 Preseason Coaches' Poll entering the season, Kai looks to help the program turn heads and exceed expectations in his sophomore season.
Through four games, Kai has logged in three hits, all doubles, contributing to an early 3-1 record for the Sun Devils.
"I'm excited to see how I can help this team moving forward," Kai Murphy said. "This team is pretty tight-knit, so I really think we’re going to surprise some people and play really well this season"
Reach the reporter at atschmi2@asu.edu and follow @schmitty9999 on Twitter.
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Aaron Schmidt is a sports reporter who covers ASU Baseball and ASU Women’s Golf for The State Press. He previously covered Higley High School football for AZPreps365.
