Given his red-hot hitting, Murphy is a worthy instructor. He is a hitting addict. He thinks a lot about it. He shares his observations with teammates. He has already been referred to as “a hitting machine” by one teammate. He even remembers exactly how opponents pitched other Nationals long after the fact. With a 4 for 5 and three RBI performance on Wednesday, Murphy is hitting .398, tops in the majors.

“To be able to stay consistent like that, really just drive the ball wherever he hits it, it’s just tremendous,” right fielder Bryce Harper said. “The preparation he has day in and day out, in the cage, on the field, staying with his routine, it’s something you want every teammate of yours to have, and he’s got it. … I hope he keeps going. If we get that all year out of him, I think we’ll be right where we need to be.”

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Murphy’s consistency through the Nationals’ first month has been astounding. He has a hit in 23 of the 26 games he has played. He has 13 multi-hit games. He hasn’t reached base in just two games.

“The numbers on the board are the best start,” Murphy said. “I don’t know if it’s the best I’ve ever felt. I try not to explain it too much. Again [Wednesday], I think the perfect example is I come up for my first at-bat with runners on second and third and we’ve already got two runs in. So I’m getting at-bats with guys on the base paths. When guys are out there, the margins are much smaller for pitchers. I think our guys can attest to that.”

Because the Nationals took such a large lead early in Wednesday’s game, the lineup turned over quickly. Murphy had his fourth hit by the sixth inning. The left-handed hitter needed a triple to complete the cycle, which he said he didn’t realize until Baker told him. With reporters, Murphy doesn’t like talking much about himself or explaining his hitting, which he said isn’t because of superstition. He repeats the same line when asked about his approach at the plate.

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“Just ride the wave,” he said. “You feel good in there, you just keep trying to get good pitches to hit and get your ‘A’ swing off. That’s my approach.”

Murphy’s hitting has more factors than that. He is benefiting from a .410 average with balls in play (BABIP). But it’s not like he isn’t hitting the ball hard. Albeit a small sample size, his line drive rate is up from last year while his groundball rate is down — more evidence of solid contact. In fact, his line drive rate (33.3 percent) is the third-highest in baseball, according to Fangraphs.com. He is pulling the ball to right field — where he does his most damage — even more than his career-high rate last season.

“Murph has an idea,” Baker said. “He has a heck of an idea of what he’s looking for. He splits the plate. He’s rarely fooled. Murphy has an idea on what he’s doing up there and he’s gonna get better and better. He doesn’t seem to be getting tired.”

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Baker has commended Murphy for his dedication to working on his defense, his spiritual nature, his base running and his competitive nature.

“He defies – a lot of people think a Christian guy is not a warrior – but he is definitely a warrior,” Baker said. “Above all, he’s a winner and he knows what he is doing.”

The Nationals knew what type of hitter they were getting in Murphy when they signed him this offseason because they faced him for many years when he was on the Mets. But teammates didn’t know about his business-like attitude and hard-working personality.