Murphy’s .400 average rare in mid-May

When Daniel Murphy returns to New York on Tuesday for his first game at Citi Field with the Nationals, he’ll do so as the current Major League batting leader, sporting a .400 batting average.

It’s a figure that’s long eluded Major League hitters. While many have eclipsed .400 for stretches during a season, no player has finished above the mark in the nearly 75 seasons since Ted Williams hit .406 for the Red Sox in 1941. The closest any batter has come to replicating the feat in a full season was in 1980 when George Brett hit .390 for the Royals. Tony Gwynn bested that average in 1994, hitting .394, but that season was cut short by the players strike and ended on Aug. 11.

It’s premature to put Murphy in the same conversation as early as May — not to mention his .293 career average — but he’s just the 10th qualified hitter since the turn of the century to bat .400 or better on May 16 or later. Here’s a look at the other nine players (according to data from Elias Sports Bureau):

Dee Gordon, Marlins, 2015 Much like Murphy, Gordon was scorching hot at the plate, batting .425 at this point last year. His reign above .400 didn’t last much longer, however. Gordon slipped to .395 on May 20, then finished the season as the National League batting champion at .333. His productive year at the plate resulted in a Silver Slugger Award and his second All-Star appearance. He also paced the Majors in stolen bases (58) and earned a Gold Glove Award.

Josh Hamilton, Rangers, 2012 May 16 represented the tipping point for Hamilton. Then a perennial All-Star for the Rangers, Hamilton started the year with hits …

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