Andrew Knizner

27-Year-Old CatcherC

St. Louis Cardinals

2022 Stats

AVG

.215

RBI

2023 Projections

AVG

RBI

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2023 Fantasy Outlook

Knizner played more than expected last season as the Yadier Molina retirement tour was interrupted by a long IL stint for a sore knee. To say Knizner took advantage is a backhanded compliment considering his wRC+ was 79, albeit higher than the prior year's 50 mark. His 21% contact rate isn't the issue; he just doesn't hit the ball with much authority. There was a time the Cardinals hoped Knizner's strong contact skills would support a developing hit tool but signing Willson Contreras suggests they've changed their mind. Knizner is earmarked to back up Willson Contreras, but his hold on the job is tenuous as Knizner is a subpar defender and Jose Herrera looms. If Knizner is on top of your queue, you need a longer queue. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

#597

ADP

Overall

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 6'1"

Weight 225

DOB 2/3/1995

Born Glen Allen, VA

College North Carolina State

Drafted 7th Rd 2016 STL

Reaches deal with St. Louis

CSt. Louis Cardinals

January 13, 2023

Knizner agreed to a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Cardinals on Friday to avoid arbitration, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

ANALYSIS
Knizner appeared in a career-high 97 games last season and had a .215/.301/.300 slash line with four home runs and 25 RBI. He'll remain the No. 2 catcher despite the retirement of Yadier Molina after the Cardinals signed Willson Contreras in free agency.

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Batting Stats

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2022

2021

2020

2019

2022 MLB Game Log

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2021 MLB Game Log

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2020 MLB Game Log

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2019 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2020

+49%

OPS vs RHP

2022

+24%

OPS vs RHP

2021

+122%

OPS vs RHP

2020

+15%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020vs Left	.415	119	9	2	9	0	.120	.202	.213
Since 2020vs Right	.618	376	38	3	29	0	.228	.320	.298
2022vs Left	.507	65	6	2	8	0	.138	.231	.276
2022vs Right	.629	228	22	2	17	0	.238	.322	.307
2021vs Left	.274	49	3	0	1	0	.089	.163	.111
2021vs Right	.608	136	15	1	8	0	.207	.324	.284
2020vs Left	.600	5	0	0	0	0	.200	.200	.400
2020vs Right	.523	12	1	0	4	0	.273	.250	.273
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Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2020

Even Split

2022

+5%

OPS at Home

2021

+1%

OPS on Road

2020

-100%

OPS on Road

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2020Home	.568	216	18	3	16	0	.196	.293	.275
Since 2020Away	.569	279	29	2	22	0	.206	.290	.278
2022Home	.619	117	7	2	13	0	.210	.319	.300
2022Away	.590	176	21	2	12	0	.219	.290	.300
2021Home	.515	98	11	1	3	0	.182	.265	.250
2021Away	.518	87	7	0	6	0	.164	.299	.219
2020Home	.000	1	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000
2020Away	.583	16	1	0	4	0	.267	.250	.333
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Stat Review

How does Andrew Knizner compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.42

BB Rate

8.9%

K Rate

21.2%

BABIP

.268

ISO

.085

AVG

.215

OBP

.301

SLG

.300

OPS

.601

wOBA

.277

Exit Velocity

86.0 mph

Hard Hit Rate

26.6%

Barrels/PA

2.4%

Expected BA

.219

Expected SLG

.306

Sprint Speed

22.4 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

44.9%

Line Drive %

17.2%

Fly Ball %

37.9%

Prospect Rankings History

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Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2021

2020

2019

There have been a few catchers of the future in St. Louis throughout Yadier Molina's 30s, and Knizner might be the one in the right place at the right time when the veteran finally leaves town. He made the expanded Opening Day roster as a third catcher but received very few opportunities throughout the season, coming to the plate just 17 times, a sample small enough that analyzing his .250/.235/.313 slash line would be a waste of time. Knizner's minor-league numbers and prospect reports are worth most of the attention if the Cardinals don't bring in anyone to start ahead of him over the winter. He's considered an offense-first backstop, which is what you'd want for fantasy purposes but which means his shaky glove puts a lot of pressure on his bat if he's to remain in the lineup. His 99 wRC+ at the Triple-A level in 2019 hardly suggests he's about to tear up the league, but he could still be a useful option.

Knizner got his first taste of the majors in 2019, appearing in 18 games with the Cardinals. He didn't do much during his time in the big leagues, hitting .226 in 58 plate appearances. It would be rash to rush to judgment based on the limited sample size as Knizner has demonstrated a much more impressive hitting acumen in the minors. He hit a solid .276 in 66 games with Triple-A Memphis in 2019 after batting well above .300 across two levels over the previous two seasons. While Knizner's 24.1 K% in the majors last season took a toll on his batting average, his strikeout rate has never exceeded 13.2% in any minor-league campaign, thus it's fair to expect less whiffs from Knizner as he adjusts to major-league pitching. Knizner has been tapped as the successor to Yadier Molina in St. Louis, and that transition should accelerate in 2020 if Knizner is able to hold down a full-season backup gig.

With Carson Kelly shipped to Arizona in the Paul Goldschmidt trade, Knizner now lines up as Yadier Molina's backup and heir apparent behind the plate in St. Louis. With above-average batting lines at every stop of his three-year professional career, he offers enough offensive value to mostly offset his relatively poor defense. He hit .313/.365/.434 (119 wRC+) in 77 games for Double-A Springfield last year and followed that up with a similar .315/.383/.407 line (114 wRC+) in 17 games with Triple-A Memphis. Despite that short amount of time in Triple-A, Knizner will have a good shot to break camp on the 25-man roster. The 36-year-old Molina has received at least 500 plate appearances in nine of the last 10 years and was an All-Star yet again last season, but he's bound to break down at some point.

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