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Andrew Michael Knapp (born November 9, 1991) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and San Francisco Giants. He played college baseball for the University of California, Berkeley, and was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2013 MLB draft.
A switch hitter, Knapp ascended through the Phillies' farm system in four seasons, winning the organization's award for best minor league player in 2015. He made his MLB debut in 2017 and served as the team's primary backup catcher for five seasons.
After a successful high school career, Knapp was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 41st round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign. Instead, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, to play college baseball in the Pac-12 Conference. After struggling throughout his first two seasons, Knapp began to break through during his junior year, when he became a full-time catcher. That season, Knapp was third in the conference with a .350 batting average, tied for third with a .544 slugging percentage, ranked fourth with a .434 on-base percentage, and hit eight .
Over three seasons, he hit .294, with 14 home runs, and 82 runs batted in (RBIs) for the California Golden Bears baseball team. In 2012, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and was named a league all-star. Entering the 2013 MLB Draft, Knapp was viewed as "headlining the second tier of catchers in this year's class", with scout Mike Rosenbaum projecting that he could be a slightly above-average hitter and defender with average power hitter and an above-average throwing arm.
Knapp started 2015 with Clearwater where he was a mid-season FSL All Star, and was promoted to the Reading Fightin Phils during the season. He hit a combined .308/.385/.491 with 13 home runs and 84 RBIs in 118 total games between the two teams. For his performance in 2015, he won the Paul Owens Award, which the Phillies' organization awards to its best minor league player each season.
Knapp spent 2016 with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, and his offensive performance "tapered off". Knapp did, however, take strides defensively, which at the time was viewed as an area of relative weakness that he would need to improve to have a chance at the major league level. He ended the season with a .266 batting average, eight home runs, and 46 RBIs in 107 games. He was named an International League mid-season All Star. After the season, he played in the Dominican Winter League.
Knapp again battled for the backup catcher position entering 2018 and, again, made the opening day roster, this time as a backup to Alfaro. Knapp did, however, make his first career opening day start. On July 1, 2018, Knapp hit the team’s first walk-off home run since 2016, a 13th inning blast against the Washington Nationals. Despite his paltry overall hitting performance—a .198 batting average with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 187 at bats—the team began to value Knapp's defensive and game management skills along with his ability to get on base.
During the offseason prior to the Phillies' 2019 campaign, they acquired J. T. Realmuto in exchange for a package of prospects that included Alfaro, again opening a clear path for Knapp to start the season as the team's backup catcher. He did, once again spending the season as the team's primary backup catcher. Although he continued to struggle offensively, Phillies' management expressed comfort with keeping Knapp as Realmuto's backup moving forward. Overall in 2019, he batted .213/.318/.324 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 136 at bats, but he closed the season on a high note, hitting .290 during the last nine games of the season. He also threw out a career-best 29 percent of attempted base stealers.
The Phillies' catching situation remained unchanged entering spring training in 2020, with Knapp projected to serve as Realmuto's backup, and that eventually was the case once the season began in July after a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the shortened season, all teams used a designated hitter (DH), which allowed Knapp to have expanded playing time as Realmuto could occasionally serve as DH while reducing the strain on him to catch every day. Knapp ultimately played 33 of 60 games during the shortened season, hitting a career-best .278 with two home runs and 15 RBIs. His performance led Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bob Brookover to suggest he was the best backup catcher in baseball (a corollary to the Phillies' mantra that Realmuto is the "best catcher in baseball"). In August, when the Phillies retired the number of Dick Allen, Knapp again switched his number, this time from Allen's 15 to 7.
Knapp entered 2021 poised to continue his role as Realmuto's backup, though with uncertainty throughout the offseason about whether Realmuto would re-sign with the team or would be ready for opening day after suffering a thumb injury, Knapp prepared to play an expanded role. In his first at-bat of the season, on April 4, Knapp hit the Phillies' first home run of the season.
In the 2021 season he batted a career-low .152. His .429 OPS was the second-lowest OPS among catchers who had at least 50 plate appearances. He struck 38% of the time, a career worst, and threw out only 2 of 22 attempted base stealers. On November 5, 2021, the Phillies outrighted Knapp off of the 40-man roster and he became a free agent.
On July 9, 2022, Knapp was designated for assignment. He was released on July 13.
On January 20, 2025, Knapp announced his retirement from professional baseball.
Over the course of his first several seasons at the major league level, Knapp often started on days when Zach Eflin pitched. Knapp and Eflin had worked together since the Double-A level and developed a strong rapport—Eflin's performance as a pitcher was appreciably stronger with Knapp behind the plate. Knapp was viewed as a leader in the Phillies' clubhouse and has the respect of teammates including Bryce Harper, who said during spring training in 2021, "I know everybody talks about Knapp and the way he hits or whatever, but that guy – to have a backup catcher like Knapp, he’s so good with the pitchers. The way he calls games, the way he frames – so much goes into it. He's so good back there."
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