The Pirates are set to sign Andrew Knapp to serve as their backup catcher, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Knapp, who’s spent the past five seasons with the cross-state Phillies, was in camp with the Reds this spring but was granted his release recently after being informed he wouldn’t make the roster. Knapp is repped by Apex Baseball.
Knapp, 30, was long one of the Phillies’ more highly ranked prospects and even cracked Baseball America’s Top 100 list (No. 96) in the 2015-16 offseason. However, while he had a solid rookie season at the plate and enjoyed a productive stretch of 89 plate appearances during the shortened 2020 season, he’s yet to consistently deliver average or better production in the Majors. Through 827 MLB plate appearances, all coming with the Phillies, Knapp is a .214/.314/.322 hitter. He’s drawn a walk in 11.9% of career plate appearances, and while a good chunk of those have come batting eighth in front of the pitcher, Knapp has walk rates north of 11% even when batting sixth and seventh in the lineup.
Defensively, Knapp has drawn roughly average ratings for his ability to block pitches in the dirt, but his 19% caught-stealing rate and framing marks at both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus check in below average. Knapp does have a vastly superior 31% caught-stealing mark in parts of six minor league seasons, however, and he’s a career .262/.335/.381 hitter at the Triple-A level.
The Pirates traded catcher Jacob Stallings, one of the sport’s premier defensive players, to the Marlins this offseason in a deal that netted them right-hander Zach Thompson and prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott. Pittsburgh quickly turned around and signed free agent Roberto Perez, another high-end defender but one whose bat has dropped off in recent years while dealing with a series of thumb and hand injuries.
Knapp will give the Bucs an experienced backup to Perez, likely pushing non-roster options Michael Perez and Taylor Davis to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the year. Of course, 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis is viewed as the catcher of the future for the Pirates, but the former Louisville star will still need a couple years of development time in all likelihood.
Win now move for the bucs.
Lose now comment from Mikehoncho69
No concept of sarcasm from THE downvoter
Limited reading comprehension by Ibleeedblue
The reason Downvoter downvoted was because of the sarcasm and negativity.
Pretty obvious to me.
Many posters on this site are negative and they think that they are witty or funny but in truth they really add nothing to any intelligent conversations and these posts are consequently useless.
Exactly, Mendoza. Exactly. Always the one idiot who has to make a stupid comment….
Problem is that there generally is more than one idiot on these posts.
We could have pity on him if it was just one.
But a blind man could pick them all out pretty easily.
Quite often they pick on the bad teams and say something smug.
They are also quite often fans of the large market teams that never have to go through a rebuild and to them 89 wins is a bad year.
Such is the state of the sport that many of us love.
I suppose that it’s bye bye to Michael Perez.
I think M. Perez can still be sent to the minors, not certain about that. Now, why they would want to send him to minors, that’s another question.
Pérez is on a minor league contract,so he has essentially been in the minors all along.
If they want him they got him. If someone else wants him they can have him. Probably AAAA depth at indy.
A decent signing for the Bucs
How so?
I think so too.
He is better than what they have,and they do not have a lot.
Knapp looked fairly good a couple of years out of the five or six and will get more playing time for sure now which is always conducive to playing better.
@Mendoza Line 215 Agree 100% If he has a .346 babip he will look fairly good.
This guy is not Johnny Bench Jr.But their ML ready players right now consist of one.Even the Pirates should have two non AAAA players.And you know as well as me that this is a very important position,especially with a young pitching staff,and a veteran is needed.Catchers are also prone to get hurt.I will be curious as to see which Knapp will show up.I do not think that Michael Pérez would be the answer again,although he did show a little bit of power.
I just see it as adding depth that once was considered a nice prospect. I consider Perez as a veteran and good with Pitchers. He knows everything Tampa taught him. Whatever he learned from Stallings and the Pirates had a excellent catching coach, can’t recall his name at the moment. I believe Buck poached him for the Mets.
Yeah can’t wait to see him and VanMeteor in every Sunday lineup
big if true
“was long one of the Phillies’ more highly ranked prospects” My goodness. How can one team miss so many times with prospects?
Von- Once the Phillies got Realmuto Knapp’s Philly career was pretty much doomed.I think that if he plays decently as a backup he will blossom,perhaps only into mediocrity,but there have been a lot of mediocre catcher’s who have played for many years and given their teams good service without coming close to being considered very good.
The Phillies have some decent young drafted players and will win 90 games this year even in a tough division.
Phillies won’t win 80 games they cant field a single ball. They have Castellenos taking grounders at 3rd and SS… He couldn’t make a play at third in a T Ball game let alone MLB.
@SpendNuttinWinNuttin He’s taking grounders there because he wants too. He’s not playing 3rd or SS. Haha. Their defense is bad though no denying.
Spend-I agree with your t ball comment on Nick.
He is simply a hired hitter who probably though that he would try to help his new team out the best that he could.
I would agree with you if the Phillies needed a third baseman in the worst way,because Nick would be one in the worst way.
But I think Didi will be much better if healthy,and Stott may be able to man either 3b if Bohm does not play well or Didi if he gets injured again.
The Phillies defense will be less than mediocre but not as terrible as you think.
And they will win a lot of games 8-6.
I, quite frankly am suprised by the signing of Knapp! He is always sleepin on the job!
Gonna get himself get Knapp-sacked.
Great clubhouse guy. Solid defensive catcher. Can’t hit at all.
Bucs have reached the point in their rebuild that they will start signing impact free agents like Knapp.
Bob- You are a bad man,a very very bad man.
the dreaded term, backup catcher
Solid move. Knapp might not hit much, but if the bar is outhitting Michael Perez from last season, the Bucs could have signed a tree stump and still been better off offensively. Knapp sounds a bit to me like Chris Stewart, and he did just fine backing Cervelli up for a few years.
Jeff Mathis not available? What if this guy knocks in a couple runs?
his value has taken a Knapp
To all those who said the Pirates should go after Luis Campusano in a Reynolds trade and then when I asked why they would need Campusano when they just drafted a catcher at 1/1 last summer they replied to me with “They need a stopgap.” THIS is what I was referring to when I said they could get one of those in free agency for basically no money.
Excellent move. Well excellent by Pirate standards. Instead of only having 1 AAAA catcher depth they now have 2.
Hopefully by the second half of the season Carter Bins or someone else in the minors will be ready.
That would be nice. I would say maybe the Pirates can get something more out of Knapp but Bins amounting to something is a more likely possibility.
WIth Knapp, we increased the backup catcher batting average about 70 points.
Davis is not a “couple of years away.” The way cheap Nutting operates, don’t expect to see him until 2027. Got to hold on to those years of control, ya know!
Pirates should be a playoff team or at least contend for a spot in 2024 or 2025. If Davis is ready he should be up by then or he will be considered a bust. With his current trajectory his bat should be ready before 2023 is finished.
I appreciate your optimism, but predicting the pirates as a playoff team at any time is a dangerous game. No certainty Reynolds and Hayes are even still around in 2025.
You will really appreciate this then. My prediction is with or without Hayes and Reynolds. Hopefully they are extended but more likely traded for prospects to keep the contending rolling. Farm system is one of the best with at least 1 likely 2 more high picks. Player development has improved. How much more it improves will be the difference in contending for a wild card spot vs actually contending for the division or world series.
Reynolds would have to agree to an extension, he doesn’t want to be in Pittsburgh, and can you blame him?
Hayes extension? I’ll only believe that when I see it. When nutting puts up the money.
He says he wants to be there. Even if he is lying doesn’t matter. Players want to be wherever it’s the most financially beneficial.
Players also want to win.
How do they do that- they go to the wealthy large market teams.
Those teams even poach the best front office personnel and coaches from the teams that develop them.
Then their fans say that money isn’t everything.
In MLB it is.
How’s that working out for Anthony Rendon, Bryce Harper, and Manny Machado?
I’m not disputing teams with big payroll budgets have an advantage over the medium and small market teams in acquiring and keeping talent, but in today’s MLB the biggest advantage is developing talent.
The ability of the Rays, A’s, Indians, Twins, and Brewers to do this is why they have a better record of success of late than teams like the Angels and Phillies.
Hayes and Reynolds aren’t the end all be all of the organization, they’re just the only 2 big leaguers who have sellable jerseys right now. The real test is on the kids like Cruz, Davis, Solomento, Chandler, Preister, etc…
Scott- You are correct in what you say.Even the wealthy teams need to augment with young inexpensive players.But they poach from the other teams in order to get the best GM’s and coaches and talent evaluators.
Just because a large market team has money does not mean that they will win.It does not mean that they are well run.
The small market teams that are well run will provide good teams.But they cannot keep the stars that really win the WS.I think that a very good team needs at least two or three to compete deep into the playoffs.Their year may provide a feel good story,but they generally will not be close to reaching the ultimate destination,
Large market teams have won 17 of the last 29 WS.
Small market teams have won one.
That fact tells you all that you need to know.
I figured Knapp was about to get a big league deal. Regardless of offensive production, teams value back up catchers with big league experience over those without the experience, and also over the journeymen. It’s not an easy job, and Knapp has done it for five consecutive years. I figured a bad and transitioning team like Baltimore or Pittsburgh would be interested in a guy like Knapp. Pittsburgh it is…
Henry Davis may be the catcher of the future, but with the Pirates being all Piratey, they’ll wind up trading him after a few seasons for prospects that they’ll trade for prospects, that they’ll trade for more prospects, that they’ll trade for even more. Rinse and Repeat.
Fine move. They have to DFA someone unless there’s a 60 day DL coming we don’t know about. They had 40 with only Roberto perez catching before this signing
Honestly, I would’ve preferred Perez or Ritchie
Pirates will be fighting the A’s maybe D’Backs for #1 pick next year
Will be fighting for draft pick odds.
When they sign with the Bucs or Marlins, they are hanging onto the end of their career with all fingers and toes.
Yep imagine when they DFA you. Basically like putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger on your career
I thought Jamie Ritchie was going to win the job.
Who needs a pitcher hitting when both of your Catchers are automatic outs…
Bucs had a short sleep on this one.