A's to call up No. 3 prospect Murphy to bigs

Sean Murphy is headed to The Town to help the playoff push.
Oakland's third-ranked prospect will be lifted to the Major Leagues on Sunday when rosters expand to make his big league debut, a source tells MLB.com's Martin Gallegos.

Murphy batted .324/.402/.459 to open the season, playing less than a month before suffering a torn meniscus injury that sidelined him for most of the summer. He returned to action for Triple-A Las Vegas on July 13, and hit .283/.358/.891 over the next two months.
The 24-year-old homered just once in that initial stretch, but clubbed nine over his 12 post-injury contests. That includes a four-game stretch at the end of July in which he went deep in four straight games, hitting a total of six homers over the period.
"It was a confidence booster," Murphy told the Minor League Baseball podcast earlier this month. "You never know when you come back from a layoff what you're going to do, and to just go out there and swing the bat really well was a big confidence booster. It just kind of lets you know that, hey, you've still got it. It's still there. If you come back and you're shaky or you're not swinging it well, then you kind of start to question all the things you did in the rehab and stuff. It's nice to get a few knocks right away when you're coming back."
The A's drafted the Wright State product in the third round of the 2016 Draft. He hit .228/.307/.316 with two homers as a rookie, then finished .250/.313/.410 with 13 big flies in 2017 between Class A Advanced Stockton and Double-A Midland. He played at three different levels last season, compiling a line of .285/.361/.489 with eight homers.
Oakland also will promote right-handers No. 13 James Kaprielian and No. 14 Grant Holmes to Triple-A Las Vegas, according to Gallegos. Kaprielian posted a 1.63 ERA over seven outings with Midland, and Holmes holds a 3.31 clip over 22 appearances.