Kelly eager to catch on with Diamondbacks

Waiting his turn behind one of the best catchers in baseball wasn’t easy on Carson Kelly. Following his trade on Wednesday to the Diamondbacks for Paul Goldschmidt, Kelly said on a conference call that he’s eager to show his new team what he can do.

“It was a tough situation for sure,” Kelly said of being stuck behind St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. “It was more of the mental side than the physical side. I felt I was ready to play, but getting those opportunities and not knowing when you might get another one, it weighed heavily on me. I think that is part of the reason I haven’t had a ton of success at the big league level yet.”

When he has played, Kelly, 24, hasn’t swung the bat well. In 117 career at-bats over parts of three seasons in the majors, he has just a .154/.227/.188 line.

But he has started just 27 games behind the plate at the major league level, and other than a six-game stretch at the end of 2017, he’s started consecutive games only two other times.

“Every time I’ve gone back down to Triple-A, I’ve always made it a goal to get back into a groove and a rhythm,” Kelly said. “I understand it’s completely different leagues, but getting those opportunities to fail and succeed … and get those consistent at-bats and playing time is crucial for me, and I’ve shown that over the last few years that when I go back down to Triple-A and can play, I can put up those numbers.”

In parts of three seasons at Triple-A Memphis, Kelly is a .278/.373/.416 hitter.

He still might not get a chance to play on an everyday basis next year – General Manager Mike Hazen suggested the team was likely to stick with a three-catcher setup – but at worst Kelly will have a chance to get semi-regular action, and he could earn more time based on performance.