Hundley put on 60-day DL with cervical strain

SEATTLE -- The Rockies have placed catcher Nick Hundley on the 60-day disabled list with a cervical neck strain and purchased the contract of Minor League catcher Tom Murphy, the club announced Friday.

Hundley, who left in the sixth inning of Sunday's game with neck pain, had his best year at the plate, hitting .301 with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs in 103 games.,

"Obviously, there's been better news in my career, but at the same time, I get a couple weeks of treatment going into the offseason," Hundley said. "I think it's just one of those things where I won't be back this year. The timing of it is interestingm but if it's going to happen towards the end of the year, it's better to have it happen at the end of the year than in the middle."

The 32-year-old said he won't test his neck over the next two weeks as he receives treatment, but will begin his offseason workout routine at the beginning of October, two weeks earlier than he normally would. Hundley said he still occasionally feels pain in his neck, but has otherwise been able to perform non-baseball movements without pain.

Hundley hit .233 in '13 and .243 in '14. His offensive uptick, which puts his batting average third among qualifying National League catchers, came as a result of working with Rockies hitting coach Blake Doyle immediately after signing in January, Hundley said.

"I feel like this year I learned a lot about myself," he said. "I made a lot of strides in my game and obviously there's a lot to work on in the offseason, but I learned from Blake and the guys here offensively and defensively, things that I can really be successful at and go from there."

The injury cuts Hundley's season three weeks short, but it will give him a couple of extra weeks to get healthy, strengthen his neck and prepare for Spring Training.

"We'll get him into the offseason healthy and have a normal offseason and we would risk that if we tried to get him back playing," said Rockies manager Walt Weiss.

Murphy, who hit .256 in 105 games between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Albuquerque, is making his first appearance with the Rockies and will provide depth behind Dustin Garneau, who made his Major League debut Aug. 20.

"This is his time. Sometimes you don't see it coming," Weiss said. "Tom wasn't a September callup, so he was probably mentally into his offseason already. But he got a pretty great call, I would imagine, to meet us out here in Seattle and I'm looking forward to seeing him."

Worth noting

• Shortstop Jose Reyes got the day off Friday due to a tight left Achilles.

• Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder visited the Rockies' clubhouse before batting practice Friday, much to the delight of Weiss, a Pearl Jam fan.

"My heart's still racing, to be honest with you. I just met him 10-15 minutes ago and it was one of the highlights of the year for me," Weiss said. "You can tell he's a big baseball fan, he knows his stuff."