John Ryan Murphy (born May 13, 1991) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

, and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Playing career

High school

Murphy attended The Pendleton School at

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

. He played for the school's baseball team as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

in his freshman year of high school, moving to catcher for his sophomore season. In his senior year, Murphy had a .627

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 11

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 66

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs).

Minor leagues

Murphy committed to attend the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its locat ...

. However, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the

2009 Major League Baseball Draft The 2009 Major League Baseball draft was held June 9 to June 11 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The drafting order is as follows: First-round selections Key Supplemental first-round selections From Baseball Americ ...

and signed with them for a $1.25 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He played for the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Char ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

in 2010, and returned to Charleston for the start of the 2011 season. He received a promotion to the

Tampa Yankees Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough C ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

at mid-season. The Yankees invited Murphy to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2012. He played for Tampa and the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the D ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League B ...

Eastern League in 2012. Murphy began the 2013 season with Trenton. On June 13, 2013, the Yankees promoted Murphy to the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, the highest level in minor league baseball. Murphy had a .269 batting average with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs in Trenton and Scranton.

New York Yankees

On September 1, 2013, Murphy was called up to the Yankees when rosters were expanded, pinch-hitting a single in his first major league at-bat on September 2, 2013, against the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

. He made his first major league

start Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

on September 14. He was behind the plate during

Mariano Rivera Mariano Rivera (born November 29, 1969) is a Panamanian Americans, Panamanian-American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, from 1995 to 2013. Nicknamed "Mo" and " ...

's last game at Yankee Stadium. Murphy competed with

Francisco Cervelli Francisco Cervelli (born March 6, 1986) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher and current manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, and Miami Marlins from 2008 ...

and

Austin Romine Austin Allen Romine (born November 22, 1988) is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, St ...

to be the backup catcher for the Yankees in spring training in 2014. After years being called J.R. Murphy, he requested to be known as John Ryan going forward. Cervelli won the job, and Murphy was

optioned In the film industry, an option agreement is a contract that "rents" the rights to a source material to a potential film producer. It grants the film producer the exclusive option to purchase rights to the source material if they live up to the te ...

to the minor leagues. Cervelli suffered a hamstring injury on April 13, and was placed on the 60-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

, resulting in the Yankees calling up Murphy to replace Cervelli as the backup catcher. On April 26, 2014, Murphy hit his first career home run against the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

and also notched his first multi-RBI game by driving in a total of three runs. Murphy remained with the Yankees until June 17, when Cervelli was activated from the disabled list and Murphy was optioned back down to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees traded Cervelli in the 2014–15 offseason, and Murphy competed with Romine in spring training to be Brian McCann's backup for the 2015 season. Murphy won the competition, and Romine was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

. On July 23, 2015, Murphy hit singles off both the second-base and third-base bags. On July 25, Murphy hit a game-winning three-run home run against Glen Perkins of the Minnesota Twins to finish off a comeback win from 5–0 at

Target Field Target Field is a baseball stadium in the North Loop, Minneapolis, historic warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis. Since its opening in 2010, the stadium has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins. It is named for Tar ...

in Minneapolis, his second career home run. Murphy finished the 2015 season with a .277 batting average and three home runs in 172

plate appearances In baseball, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner. This ha ...

Minnesota Twins

The Yankees traded Murphy to the

for

Aaron Hicks Aaron Michael Hicks (born October 2, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles ...

on November 11, 2015. Murphy started the 2016 season as the backup catcher to

Kurt Suzuki Kurtis Kiyoshi Suzuki (, born October 4, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, Atlanta Braves, and Los Angeles Angels ...

. On May 6, 2016, after beginning the season 3-for-40 (.075), the Twins optioned Murphy to the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

of the International League. He spent most of the season in Rochester, ending the year with a .146 average in 26 major league games. He returned to Rochester to start the 2017 season after losing the backup catching job to veteran

Chris Gimenez Christopher Paul Gimenez ( ; born December 27, 1982) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Minne ...

. With Rochester, Murphy batted .222 in 59 games.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 27, 2017, the Twins traded Murphy to the

for minor league pitcher Gabriel Moya. The Diamondbacks assigned Murphy to the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

of the Class AAA

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, and promoted him to the major leagues on September 1. Murphy made the Diamondbacks'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster in 2018 as the third catcher, serving with

Alex Avila Alexander Thomas Avila (born January 29, 1987) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2009 and 2021 he played for the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins and Washingt ...

and

Jeff Mathis Jeffrey Stephen Mathis (born March 31, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Range ...

. Murphy played in 87 games, hitting a career high nine home runs with 24 RBIs. On April 30, 2019, Murphy struck out against

CC Sabathia Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees. Sabathia batted and th ...

for Sabathia's 3,000 strikeout. On May 25, 2019, the Diamondbacks designated Murphy for assignment. Murphy cleared waivers and was outrighted to Reno on June 1.

Atlanta Braves

On July 31, 2019, the Diamondbacks traded Murphy to the

for cash considerations. They assigned him to the

Gwinnett Stripers The Gwinnett Stripers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at Coolray Field in unincorporated Gwinnett County, Georgia ...

of the International League. On September 17, the Braves selected Murphy's contract, promoting him to the major leagues. Murphy was non-tendered on December 2, 2019, and became a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On January 10, 2020, Murphy signed a minor league deal with the

. On July 20, Murphy had his contract selected to the 40-man roster. He appeared in 25 games for Pittsburgh, slashing .172/.226/.207 with no home runs and 2 RBI. On October 30, 2020, Murphy was outrighted off of the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Coaching career

On January 31, 2023, Murphy was hired by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

organization to serve as the player development instructor for their rookie-level affiliate, the

Florida Complex League Phillies The Florida Complex League Phillies are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Phillies. The team plays i ...

Personal life

Murphy is the co-founder of the IamMore Foundation. This foundation aims to help children with challenges realize they are more than their affliction. Murphy grew up as a fan of the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. In 2015, his mother, Caroline, was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

References

External links

River Ave. Blues – Prospect Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, John Ryan 1991 births Living people Baseball players from Bradenton, Florida Major League Baseball catchers New York Yankees players Minnesota Twins players Arizona Diamondbacks players Atlanta Braves players Pittsburgh Pirates players Gulf Coast Yankees players Charleston RiverDogs players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Rochester Red Wings players Reno Aces players Gwinnett Stripers players IMG Academy alumni