The transactions keep flying in. Andrew Knapp was the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft. He injured his elbow that summer and had to have Tommy John surgery in the offseason. This caused him to miss the start of 2014 and not catch full time until mid-summer. This year he is hitting .262/.356/.369 in 63 games for the Threshers, splitting time between DH and catcher. His numbers are a bit deceptive as he has struggled greatly with his right handed swing, hitting only .216/.296/.295 against right handed pitchers. He has crushed right handed pitchers to a .288/.388/.410 line. He doesn’t have a ton of power so he will need to walk and make contact. My biggest worry is whether he can stick behind the plate. The receiving has improved, but his arm wasn’t great before the surgery and has not be great after the surgery.
As for collateral impact; this allows Chace Numata to be the primary catcher for Clearwater. He has shown an intriguing profile so far as he has returned from a couple injury plagued years. It also reduces the DH log jam to insure that Rhys Hoskins gets plenty of at bats, and opens up space for when Zach Green returns from the DL.
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I expect Nunez, Ramos, Leibrant to follow soon — and possibly astudillo and brown as well. I will not be surprised to see Windle sent down to CW to give room to Leibrant or Imhof.
Agree.
Leibrandt should get the next call-up and Windle may need a little more seasoning at the complex.
I would think Imhof stays and probably needs to get innings in with his delay due to injury earlier.
Astudillo is interesting….I guess defensively he can handle some catching and LF…then there is always the DH at certai points in the season.
Had hoped Hoskins would have been ‘doubled’ to Reading, but that is not part of the plan it appears.
I’m still ok with Hoskins hitting in CW first unless someone starts to push him up like Martin or Green (or Cozens). Hoskins in CW will give Charles or Astudillo or Perkins or even Walding at 1B some chances to prove if they can hit. If not, Hoskins should move to Reading next year and open a spot for Martin to go up.
Martin could be a gamer for sure with plus power, and also with good contact skills.
At this point, does Knapp project as a starting catcher or a good left-handed bat off the bench who catches occasionally