A Phillies catcher who spent five of his seven MLB seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, announced his retirement on Sunday via Instagram. “Every ballplayer’s career has to end at some point, and now is my time to hang ’em up,” Knapp shared. “God has blessed me with an amazing career, and I’m so grateful to have played as long as I have.”
Andrew Knapp, 33, was selected by the Phillies in the second round of the 2013 draft out of UC Berkeley. The Northern California native finished his MLB career with a .209/.309/.312 slash line across 328 games (2017–2024), playing for the Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and San Francisco Giants. His final big league stint was with the Giants in 2024, where he appeared in three games, going 1-for-6 with two strikeouts.
“Since I was a kid, I dreamed of being a professional baseball player,” Knapp wrote. “Some of my earliest memories are at the ballpark and in the clubhouse with my dad and his teammates. I dedicated my life to the game, and in return, it gave me so much—relationships that will last a lifetime and lessons in perseverance, confidence, and humility. Baseball has shown me that how you treat people matters more than the player you were.”
Among those who congratulated Knapp was his former Phillies manager, Gabe Kapler, now the assistant general manager for the Miami Marlins. “Stellar career, @theknappyboy5! Congratulations,” Kapler commented.
Knapp primarily served as a backup catcher during his time in Philadelphia, supporting Cameron Rupp, Jorge Alfaro, and J.T. Realmuto. Known as a reliable bench asset with switch-hitting ability, Knapp’s best statistical season came in the shortened 2020 campaign when he slashed .278/.404/.444 in 33 games, posting a career-high 0.8 WAR.
The son of Mike Knapp, a former minor league catcher, Andrew also played in the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers organizations in recent years but didn’t appear in an MLB game during those stints. One of his career highlights was on July 1, 2018, when he hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning to secure a 4-3 win for the Phillies over the Nationals, their first walk-off homer in over two years.
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