PHOENIX -- You can break catcher Carson Kelly’s first season with the D-backs into three parts.

The first ran from Opening Day until May 3, when Kelly hit .182 with a .520 OPS.

On May 4, Kelly hit his first Major League homer, and it ignited a tear that saw him post a .298/.403/.640 slash line from that point until Aug. 12.

The third and final part of Kelly’s season ran from Aug. 14 until the end, when he hit .173/.309/.235.

Kelly, 25, was acquired by the D-backs last December as part of the trade that sent star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to St. Louis. The 2019 season was Kelly's first real crack at regular playing time in the big leagues after being stuck behind Cardinals stalwart Yadier Molina.

“I think at the beginning of the year, it was to get acclimated with this team, see what kind of role I would have and be ready for whatever was thrown at me,” Kelly said. “Middle of the year, I started playing better and playing well, then I kind of hit a little lull.”

What went right?
Lots. The D-backs were thrilled with the way Kelly performed both behind and at the plate.

The organization asks a lot of its catchers in terms of game planning and the like. It was a lot to throw at a rookie, but Kelly handled it so well that in late May, the D-backs abandoned the three-catcher alignment they had used the previous two seasons in order to get Kelly more playing time.

Kelly ranked high in catcher framing, as he converted 52.2 percent of non-swing pitches into called strikes in the "shadow zone" -- pitches that are within one baseball's width of the edges of the strike zone -- tying him for seventh best in baseball.

One of Kelly's best moments of the year came on Aug. 9 at Dodger Stadium.

The D-backs trailed the Dodgers, 2-0, heading into the ninth when Kelly hit a game-tying two-run homer off closer Kenley Jansen to send the game to extra innings. Then Kelly won it in the 11th with a homer off Julio Urias.

What went wrong
The last month and a half of the season was a struggle for Kelly, and figuring out how to avoid that next year is important.

“I think that’s one of the goals I have going into next year, is to find ways to cope with making those longer [slumps] shorter,” he said.

A big reason for the drop-off, the D-backs feel, was simply a player experiencing his first full season in the big leagues.

“We put a lot on his plate,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

2020 outlook
Make no mistake about it: The D-backs consider Kelly their long-term solution behind the plate, and they are excited to see what he can do now that he has a full year of experience under his belt.

Veteran backstop Alex Avila could return as a backup to continue to mentor Kelly, as the two became close throughout the year.

“He’s just scratching the surface of the player he can be,” Avila said in September. “He learned a lot this year that is going to help him next year and going forward after that.”