John Ryan

Murphy

He’s no longer on the 40-man roster. Murphy has posted a .606 OPS over parts of eight seasons in the majors.

With Luke Maile (finger) done for the season, Murphy will serve as Jacob Stallings’ backup. The 28-year-old spent most of last season in the minors and hit just .175/.246/.413 with four homers over 26 games during his time in the majors.

That’s pretty much “out for the season” territory. It was something of a surprise when the Pirates gave Maile a major league deal as a free agent in December, given that he’s a lifetime .198/.252/.304 hitter in 657 plate appearances. He was set to share time with Jacob Stallings, but now it looks like John Ryan Murphy will take his spot.

The Pirates are planning on pairing light-hitting Luke Maile with Jacob Stallings behind the plate this year, but Murphy might be able to change their minds with a big month. Of course, he has some offensive issues, too, having hit just .182/.231/.344 in 390 PA over the last four years. That’s still a tad better than Maile, who is at .198/.252/.304 in 657 career PA.

It’s a good landing spot for Murphy, as the Pirates’ catching depth chart is pretty barren. The 28-year-old spent most of last season in the minors, hitting .175/.246/.413 with four homers over 26 games at the big league level.

Just as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution had predicted earlier in the week, Murphy was displaced from the roster after the recent signing of Travis d’Arnaud. He’ll look to find an opportunity to compete for a backup gig elsewhere.

With the recent signing of Travis d’Arnaud and the depth that the Braves currently have behind the dish, this one seems like a no-brainer. The 28-year-old was miserable in his time at the big league level in 2019, slashing a cringe-inducing .175/.246/.413 with four homers and seven RBI in 63 at-bats between the Diamondbacks and Braves.

Murphy was acquired from the Diamondbacks at the end of July and will join the active roster for the final couple of weeks with Charlie Culberson going on the 60-day IL. The 28-year-old owns a .219/.265/.357 batting line in the majors and will provide some depth behind the plate.

Murphy was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks at the end of May after hitting just .177 with four homers and seven RBI in 25 games. He’ll head to Atlanta to serve as organizational depth for the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

The veteran backstop was designated for assignment last week and passed through waivers unclaimed. He accepted his assignment and will report to Triple-A Reno where he’ll continue to function as catching depth for the Snakes.