For the five games prior to Daniel Murphy's arrival with the Cubs, the offense scored only via solo home run. Though they managed to win the first two of those five, it was evident that something needed to happen to give the bats a boost.
Enter Murphy, whom the Cubs acquired on waivers from the Nationals in exchange for a minor league prospect, and his .303 season average since returning from injury in June. He will likely provide the kind of run-manufacturing hitting that has seemed to evaporate for stretches of the season.
Coming from Washington, Murphy has felt the sting of fruitlessly trying to figure out how to knock the Cubs down and keep them that way, and he's excited to be on the other side of that exchange.