At 27, this is John Ryan Murphy’s seventh season in the big leagues. Together with Alex Avila and newcomer Carson Kelly, he is one of three catchers on the Diamondbacks’ 25-man Opening Day roster. For a catcher vying to see more playing time, it’s not an enviable position to be in.
But Murphy will likely get more opportunities to contribute than one might expect on a team carrying three competent backstops. Considering Kelly’s relative inexperience (he has logged just 70 games in the majors as of April 10) and Avila’s recent placement on the 10-day IL, Murphy could secure more playing time in 2019, especially if his bat gets hot.