The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with veteran catcher Andrew Knizner, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Knizner, a client of CAA, was with the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate but was released late last week after triggering an opt-out clause. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Worcester for the time being.
Knizner, 31, has played in parts of seven major league seasons, primarily with St. Louis. He’s been a backup throughout his big league career, most notably behind Cardinals legend Yadier Molina. In 975 plate appearances, he’s turned in a .211/.281/.316 batting line. Knizner rated as a poor framer earlier in his career but has drawn solid marks from Statcast across the past two seasons. His career 19.6% caught-stealing rate is below average but not by a wide margin, and he draws decent reviews for his blocking ability. He’s also been highly successful when it comes to ABS challenges in the minors.
Though he’s never produced in the majors, Knizner has been on a tear in Triple-A this season. He’s appeared in 33 games with the Rockies’ top affiliate and mashed at a .279/.371/.590 pace with 10 homers in only 140 plate appearances. That production has come in an exorbitantly hitter-friendly setting (Albquerque, Triple-A Pacific Coast League), but even when weighting for the league’s supercharged run-scoring environment, wRC+ pegs him 24% better than the PCL average at the plate.
Boston’s catching corps this season has fallen well shy of expectation. Carlos Narvaez hasn’t been able to follow up on last year’s breakout rookie showing, hitting only .197/.270/.283 with a huge 31.7% strikeout rate in 142 trips to the plate. Connor Wong, whom the Red Sox have reportedly been shopping to other clubs, has stepped to the plate 95 times and slashed .256/.344/.354, although those solid numbers have been buoyed by a .344 BABIP he probably won’t sustain. Utilityman Mickey Gasper has taken 49 plate appearances as a catcher as well, which has helped the Sox to salvage a collective .226/.310/.321 line from their backstops. That’s still well below average, but Gasper’s contributions have at least kept Boston from ranking in the bottom-five of MLB clubs in terms of catcher output.
If the Red Sox find a trade partner for Wong, Knizner could be the next man up. For now, he’ll give them an experienced catcher to help out in Worcester and serve as a depth option in the event of an injury to Narvaez, Wong and/or Gasper.
