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Baker expects Murphy back for NLDS

Jason Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Daniel Murphy may not take the field again during the regular season, as he has yet to start running since being shut down with a buttocks strain last week, but Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker expects him to be in the lineup when the National League Division Series begins next Friday.

"Yeah, I expect him to be," Baker told MASN's Mark Zuckerman. "That's why, like I said, we shut him down. He's working tirelessly with our fitness guys. He’ll probably be in better shape when he comes back than he was when he left. Because that’s all he’s doing, working out. They're rubbing him, massaging him, stretching him, trying to do everything they can, STEM machine, all kinds of stuff on him."

Murphy - who boasts a career-best .987 OPS and ranks second in the National League with a .347 batting average - hasn't played since Sept. 20, though, and Baker couldn't speculate as to how many at-bats he'll need to feel comfortable in the box.

“His swing is pretty simple,” Baker said. “He’s been hitting (the last few days). It doesn’t hurt him to hit. And he’s been throwing. How many at-bats he needs, that’s a toss-up between at-bats and him getting extra days to get healthy and get well. Which ones are more important: his legs to get healthy, or his at-bats, and are we risking that leg by pushing him too early? Murph knows himself. Murph has a strong mind."

Though veteran infielder Stephen Drew has acquitted himself well in Murphy's absence, going 6-for-15 (.400) with a pair of doubles in four starts at second base last week, Baker doesn't plan to pencil him in when they open their best-of-five series with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I'm just glad that we shut Murph down when we did, and we had the luxury of shutting him down when we did," Baker said. "Because if he had played any longer, he’d have been out for probably the entire postseason."

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