Will Daniel Murphy's postseason home run derby carry into 2016?

Over his seven seasons, Daniel Murphy has been known as one of the best contact hitters in the majors. He struck out just 38 times in 538 plate appearances in 2015 while batting .281 last season.

But after averaging nine homers per season from 2009-2014, Murphy launched 14 longballs last year. Then came a postseason power surge, with Murphy smacking seven homers, including one in a record-breaking six straight games. The artillery show helped the Mets to the World Series and won Murphy the National League Championship Series MVP.

So naturally one of the hot topics from Murphy's introductory press conference today at Nationals Park was his new-found power.

"I think the big question is alluding to whether or not I can hit homers because I've never done it before and I did it in the postseason," Murphy said. "I don't know if I can keep hitting home runs but I sure hope so."

Murphy will wear No. 20 for the Nationals, Ian Desmond's old number, with the longtime shortstop leaving in free agency this offseason. But No. 20 also represented the number of homers Desmond was virtually guaranteed to hit over the past four seasons. He hit 19 last year but 88 from 2012-2015. However, general manager Mike Rizzo indicated he wasn't necessarily looking to fill the power void left by Desmond by signing Murphy to a three-year deal worth $37.5 million.

"To me, I like the hitter that I've always seen," Rizzo said. "The guy can do so many things. I reiterate, when the lights are bright, this guy seems to put his best at-bats on. I don't think that's by coincidence. I think that this guy is a focused player that really likes the tough situation and gives you a tough at-bat. He never takes an at-bat off.

"This guy always grinds, no matter what the score is, no matter what the weather is, no matter what time of the year you're playing. He's always grinding away. He's a tough at-bat. Our pitchers did not like facing him. He grinded out a lot of at-bats against them and I'm sure they'll feel better that he's on our team."

Rizzo cautioned Murphy not to give away too many secrets about how his approach changed in the batter's box in 2015. Murphy started making adjustments during spring training last year while working with Mets hitting coach Kevin Long.

"The biggest ones were being able to use my legs and getting pitches that you can be dangerous on," Murphy said. "I think early in my career, just putting the barrel on the ball was something I really strived to do. Just putting the ball in play isn't necessarily a victory. We're trying to do damage. How can we do damage? Well, if we get a good pitch to hit in the zone and I can get my A swing off, then we can do damage. That's what I'm looking to do.

"Swinging and missing isn't always a bad thing. If I get an 0-1 changeup and I put it in play just for the sake of putting it in play, I'd probably rather swing through that pitch instead of grounding it into a 4-3 out."

Rizzo claimed Murphy's postseason heroics weren't much of a factor in pursuing the second baseman more aggressively this offseason. After playing 19 games against Murphy's Mets over the past seven years, he had witnessed plenty of what the 30-year-old was capable of.

Murphy had played in 903 games, the sixth-most of any current major leaguer, before realizing his first postseason. And then he exploded on the big stage.

"I think the biggest thing is it kind of allowed me to realize that I can slow my heart rate down when things are moving really fast," Murphy said of his first playoff experience. "I had never done the postseason before and then Game 5 against the Dodgers, I needed Maalox. Things were moving really fast leading up to the game starting. To be able to be in that position, which many players on the Nationals have done before. To have that postseason experience allows you to slow your heart rate down and become a little more accustomed to it. It was something I had never experienced before."

No one had ever experienced the power Murphy provided last October. The Nationals hope he can replicate it, leading to another postseason trip in 2016.