John Ryan Murphy

High school

Murphy attended The Pendleton School at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. He played for the school's baseball team as a pitcher and third baseman in his freshman year of high school, moving to catcher for his sophomore season. In his senior year, Murphy had a .627 batting average, with 11 home runs and 66 runs batted in (RBIs).

Minor Leagues

Murphy committed to the University of Miami, where he would play college baseball for the Miami Hurricanes. However, he was drafted by the Yankees in the second round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft and signed with them for a $1.25 million signing bonus. He played for the Charleston RiverDogs of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2010, and returned to Charleston for the start of the 2011 season. He received a promotion to the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League at midseason. The Yankees invited Murphy to spring training in 2012.

Murphy began the 2013 season with the Trenton Thunder of the Class AA Eastern League. On June 13, 2013, the Yankees promoted Murphy to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League, 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. He made his first major league start on September 14. He was behind the plate during Mariano Rivera's last game at Yankees stadium.

Murphy competed with Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine to be the backup catcher for the Yankees in spring training in 2014. Cervelli won the job, and Murphy was optioned to the minor leagues. Cervelli suffered a hamstring injury on April 13, and was placed on the 60-day disabled list, 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 in Yankee Stadium and also notched his very 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 McCann's backup for the 2015 season. Murphy won the competition, and Romine was designated for assignment. On July 23, 2015, Murphy hit a single 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 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.

Minnesota Twins

The Yankees traded Murphy to the Minnesota Twins for Aaron Hicks on November 11, 2015. Murphy started the 2016 season as the backup catcher to Kurt Suzuki. On May 6, 2016, after beginning the season 3-for-40 (.075), the Twins optioned Murphy to the Rochester Red Wings of the International League. He returned to Rochester in 2017.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On July 27, 2017, the Twins traded Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Gabriel Moya. The Diamondbacks assigned Murphy to the Reno Aces of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, and promoted him to the major leagues on September 1.

Personal

Murphy grew up as a fan of the Boston Red Sox.