Phillies' Andrew Knapp won't be satisfied as backup catcher
The 25-year-old is learning from starter Cameron Rupp and waiting his turn
The three half-inch white binders stacked on a shelf in Andrew Knapp's locker mapped his first 10 days in the majors. He wrote
Reds, Nationals, Mets
on the binder spines, which held scouting reports for the 25-year-old backup catcher to absorb.
This is an unusual arrangement, a good-hitting catcher considered something of a prospect asked to sit in the Phillies dugout for the majority of innings while Cameron Rupp, 28, shoulders the load.
It might just work.
"I'm not going to be content being a backup," Knapp said. "But, at the same time, it is a good transition to be able to work with Cam. We go over a scouting report. He'll go out, catch a couple of games in a row, then I'll be able to come in and back him up. The goal is to not lose anything from when he catches to when I catch."
Ninety-nine catchers were selected in the 2013 draft. Just two, Knapp and Cincinnati's Rule 5 pick Stuart Turner, have reached the majors. Catchers develop on a different time line from every other player. It is a defensive position that requires the acumen to manage a staff of 12 pitchers, all of whom rely on different strengths, and an understanding of the opposing hitters' tendencies.
Knapp, a minor-league catcher's son, will learn on the fly. He started just two of the Phillies' first nine games but pinch-hit in two others. Rupp is the starter.
But it is not unrealistic for Knapp to win more playing time. It was interesting to see Phillies manager Pete Mackanin pinch-hit Knapp for Rupp with two outs in the ninth inning and the tying run on first base Wednesday night. Knapp grounded out to seal a 5-4 loss to New York.
The Phillies were never worried about how Knapp's bat could play, even during his prolonged spring slump. The larger concern was how a rookie catcher can assert himself into the defensive parts of the game.
John McLaren, the Phillies' bullpen coach who also oversees the catchers, said Knapp was advertised by the player-development staff as studious. Someone who could handle the assignment of intermittent action while learning the intricacies of the big-league game. The learning curve was a bit higher because, while he was in college at Cal, the pitching coach - not the catcher - called the games. That micromanaging is typical of most collegiate programs. Both Knapp and Rupp were drafted out of college. It just requires more time.
"I go by Rupp's locker," McLaren said. "We talk. I can just tell the way [Knapp] carries a conversation that he watches the games. He's into it. You know what? He knows what he has to do. He knows he has to pay his dues and wait for his time. Work hard. Stay ready when he is called upon. He's a nice complement to Rupp."
Knapp, on the days he does not start, researches the scouting reports with Rupp. He sits in the dugout and follows the game as if he were catching. That, in some regards, adds value to the backup role. Knapp can watch and learn.
"I'm calling pitches with him," Knapp said. "But it's kind of nice because I haven't been here before. I haven't seen a lot of these guys in the lineup. He'll catch two days, and then I get to get the third one. We kind of have an idea of where guys are at. So that's helping."
Knapp's future, like Rupp's, is unwritten. Jorge Alfaro is the organization's catcher of the future. He will spend the whole season at triple-A Lehigh Valley, barring an unforeseen circumstance. But next year, Alfaro cannot be sent to the minors without passing through waivers. He will have to be on the Phillies.
So the current catchers must view the 2016 season as a proving ground. Knapp, being the freshest one, used the first 10 days to seek a balance.
"The scouting reports are pretty in-depth," Knapp said. "Sometimes you can get lost in the numbers a little bit. But it always comes back to the pitcher's strength. You're never going to go away from that. But there are some things that stand out big time. Guys swinging early in the count. Or they have a hole with two strikes. You can definitely attack those when you get there.
"At the same time, it's not like you're going to go straight off the scouting report. You're going with what your pitcher has that day and the feel of the game."
For Knapp, that feel might be acquired from the dugout as he follows a sequence initiated by another catcher.
@MattGelb