The Giants signed catcher Andrew Knizner to a minor league contract. The deal was first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He has already made his organizational debut, collecting hits in each of his first three at-bats with Triple-A Sacramento.
Knizner is picking up where he’d left off as a member of the Nationals organization. The 30-year-old had raked at a .382/.516/.500 clip with more walks than strikeouts over 23 games for their top affiliate. Washington nevertheless granted him his release over the weekend. Knizner was set to trigger an opt-out. The Nats preferred to stick with their current catching tandem of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams rather than override the opt-out by calling him up.
While Knizner obviously isn’t going to keep up this pace, he’s a productive minor league hitter. He carried a .287/.379/.435 batting line over parts of four Triple-A seasons into play tonight. He has had a far tougher time against MLB pitching. Knizner is a career .210/.279/.317 hitter in almost 900 plate appearances at the big league level. He spent parts of five seasons backing up Yadier Molina and Willson Contreras, respectively, in St. Louis.
Knizner moved to Texas on a $1.825MM free agent deal heading into 2024. He spent most of the year as Jonah Heim’s backup, but he didn’t perform especially well. Knizner hit .167/.183/.211 over 35 games. Texas acquired Carson Kelly at the deadline and designated Knizner for assignment not long after. He landed with the Diamondbacks via waiver claim. His time in Arizona consisted of 22 Triple-A games. The Snakes outrighted him off their 40-man roster without getting him into a big league contest.
Patrick Bailey is entrenched as the starting catcher in San Francisco. Sam Huff hasn’t provided much in sporadic playing time as the backup. He’s hitting .200 with one homer and 22 strikeouts in 49 plate appearances. Knizner joins Max Stassi and Logan Porter as non-roster depth at Triple-A. Knizner has been the most productive of that trio in the minors this year, potentially positioning him as the top challenger if the Giants decide to move on from the out-of-options Huff at any point.
Catching on this team is terrible, please can I have Joey Bart back.
At least Bailey is on track to win another gold glove. But neither Huff or Bailey can’t even get on base like 30% of the time.
Austin Hedges 2.0. Gold glove, frozen turd bat.
Dooper, What a ridiculous take. Sure Bailey doesn’t hit much, but he’s not just some good defensive catcher like Hedges, Bailey is arguably the best defensive catcher in MLB, and he’s in the discussion for best overall defender in MLB regardless of position. And don’t take my word for it, check out Statcast for confirmation. Hedges only dreamed to be Patrick Bailey behind the plate.
The disrespect you show towards Austin Hedges’ defense is insane. You just glaze giants
I don’t disrespect Hedges. I appreciate a good defensive catcher. Since you didn’t follow advice and check out Statcast, I’ll do it for you. Compare catcher stats for 2024:
Blocks above average: Bailey -1, Hedges 4
Framing: Bailey 16, Hedges 6
Pop time: Bailey 1.85, Hedges 1.94
Catcher’s CS above average: Bailey 10, Hedges 1
Fielding run value: Bailey 22, Hedges 8
Hedges is a fine defensive catcher, but other than his better blocking skills. he’s a not nearly the defensive catcher that Bailey is. Bailey provides greater value behind the plate.
Plus, career OPS+: Bailey 75, Hedges 53
Hedges wishes he could hit as well as Bailey.
When it comes to catcher, what he does behind the plate is much more important than what he does at the plate. I wish Bailey was a bit more effective with the bat, but the guy is in the conversation for best defensive catcher in baseball. That’s way more valuable than some league average hitter. To go with offense over defense, a catcher would need to be Kyle Schwarber, or someone similar, with the bat. I’m good with Bailey. He’s no where near the Giants’ biggest problem.
Hell no, he’s one of the only guys we have who knows how to hold a bat.
Great. Just what the Giants need, another AAAA hitter. 🥱
Not really sure the back-up catcher is supposed to be the Barry Bonds of the team
First, btw.
Let’s go! Hope the giants give him an opportunity
Knizner is worth a look. Huff was supposed to be the better hitting back-up, but hasn’t really delivered much in that regard. Bailey is valuable, but it would be nice to have a back-up that could hit a little.