The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THIRD baseman BJ Murray Jr, one of the few Bahamians left in minor league baseball action, and the Tennessee Smokies are one game from advancing to the Double-A championship series.

Murray Jr and the Smokies, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, took game one of their best-of-three playoff series against the Cincinnati Reds’ af liate Chattanooga Lookouts on Tuesday at the AT&T Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a 3-1 victory.

In that game, Murray Jr, batting second in the line-up, went 2-for-3 with a walk, a run batted in (RBI) and a run scored for a .667 average.

Game two of the series was scheduled for last night. If necessary, the third and deciding game will be played tonight.

“We are trying to win. We are trying to nish this series off as quickly as possible,” said Murray Jr as he geared up for last night’s game. “We are trying to finish this team off as quickly as possible. We definitely have the team to do it.”

The 23-year-old Murray Jr, who was drafted in round 15 with the 454th pick overall by the Cubs in the 2021 Major League Draft, said they are a position to clinch a berth into the league final.

“The team is looking good, and we are very confident that we can win this series,” said Murray Jr, who switch hits as a batter, but throws with his right hand.

The 5-foot, 10-inch Murray Jr, who in 452 at-bats has produced 119 hits with 16 home runs, 14 stolen bases, 74 RBI and 71 runs for an .263 average, admitted that he could perform a whole lot better.

“Baseball is a hard game, so I could improve in every aspect,” he stated. “There’s no one specific area that I want to get better at. I want to get better at everything.”