Nats Releasing Catcher in Rochester Hitting .382 ???

[para]

Found this on Newbreak  app tonight. I didn't hear any buzz about him this year. Wouldn't you bring him or try to trade him. Nope just releasing him.
The post Nationals release catcher hitting .382 in Triple-A appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The Washington Nationals are reportedly releasing catcher Andrew Knizner, per Robert Murray of FanSided.
“The Nationals are releasing catcher Andrew Knizner based on the opt-out in his contract, source says. Knizner, who is hitting .382/.516/.500/1.016 in Triple-A, had a 184 wRC+ that was second in all of AAA (minimum of 75 plate appearances). He appears to be a strong candidate for a major-league contract based on his performance and teams needing veteran catching.” Knizner, 30, made his MLB debut in 2019. with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was an intriguing prospect with St. Louis but struggled to find success at the big-league level. He played in St. Louis until 2023 before joining the Texas Rangers in 2024.
The veteran catcher struggled with the Rangers, though, slashing just .167/.183/.211 across 35 games played. Knizner ended up landing a minor-league contract with the Nationals this past offseason. As Murray mentioned, Knizner has swung the bat well at the Triple-A level this season, hitting .382 with a 1.016 OPS in 23 games played.
He undoubtedly will receive interest from around the league in MLB free agency. It will be intriguing to see if Knizner is offered any big-league contracts.

[Slateman]

He's a 30 year old who is a career .210/.279/.317 hitter

[Smithian]

Keibert Ruiz hs cooled off, but he's pretty clearly locked in as the Nats #1. Riley Adams is fine as a backup C who gets job done behind plate and will occasionally run into a baseball and put it in Row H. The team seems comfortable with Drew Millas.

Knizer struck me as insurance for if two of those three completely crashed out. Hasn't happened. He probably wants to go somewhere with a cleaner route to a major league roster and the Nats are fine only having on veteran catcher in Rochester. Not going to pretend I'm familiar right now with Nats catching depth, but it's possible they have some guys they want to bump a level and opening a spot allows some shuffling.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Being a vet on a minor league deal, I'm pretty sure he had an opt out allowing him to be  released if he was not added to the roster after a certain date in April or May. I'm guessing that was 5/15. (Edit - Opening post quotes the news as saying he had an opt out)

Adams does not have an option so to call up Knizner to replace Adams would have meant exposing Adams to waivers off the 40 man roster in order to outright him to Rochester. Basically, they are committed to Adams as the back up. He's played well, thrown much better than in years past, shown pop which is his calling card, so he's done nothing to lose his spot.

I don't see much of a change to the catching situation unless or until Lomavita is ready.

[aspenbubba]

The issue is Ruiz has only hit 2 HR's and those were the first 2 games of the season. Davey continues to play him almost every day because he is desperate to keep his bat in the order while allowing Bell to DH (tho he is heating up). Let Ruiz DH once a week as I'm not sure he has lost some power from overuse. 

[IanRubbish]

The issue is Ruiz has only hit 2 HR's and those were the first 2 games of the season. Davey continues to play him almost every day because he is desperate to keep his bat in the order while allowing Bell to DH (tho he is heating up). Let Ruiz DH once a week as I'm not sure he has lost some power from overuse.

Keibert does not have the bat to be a DH.  He plays because of his contract, which was more egregious last year when he really wasn't hitting.

[IanRubbish]

Keibert's framing currently ranks dead last.  While his caught stealing rate is better than the last couple years, he's 55th of 64 among catchers in arm strength per baseball savant.

[aspenbubba]

Keibert does not have the bat to be a DH.  He plays because of his contract, which was more egregious last year when he really wasn't hitting.

I stated that he should DH if Davey insists on keeping his bat in the line up once a week. He is better than Bell. My preference would be that Wood was the full time DH on this team. I just don’t know how long it will be that Ruiz goes into a prolonged slump both offensively and defensively due to overuse.

[Slateman]

Ruiz is 26 and played in 41 games. Not sure how that's being overused. He just doesn't have power. Never really has.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

His May has not been good. .245 / .288 / .306 over 52 PAs before today. Still doesn't K (9.6%) but allergic to BBs (3.8%). Without power, he's really just a BABIP guy - .326 1st month, .273 in May.

He's not going well. Maybe he's not tired, maybe he's just meh. Adams isn't kicking down the door, but maybe go to a 3:1 or 2:1 split of time. Right now, by PA, its 168:30, or 5.5:1. That's Adams once a week. Try twice a week.

[aspenbubba]

Ruiz is 26 and played in 41 games. Not sure how that's being overused. He just doesn't have power. Never really has.

He hit 18 HR’s in 2023.  He hit 13 in 2024. IIRC he was sick  at one point and lost a lot of weight. When he came back he had a better 2nd half.

[Slateman]

He hit 18 HR’s in 2023.  He hit 13 in 2024. IIRC he was sick  at one point and lost a lot of weight. When he came back he had a better 2nd half.

2023 could be a fluke and 13 isn't a lot. He also has an OBP about 30 points higher than 2023.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

He hit 20 HRs in the minors in 2022. Tbh, I expected more power.

Of course, Adams has been about 1 HR every 40 PAs. I am not sure why they value keeping him around.

[nobleisthyname]

I still wish Millas would be given more than a week's worth of PAs to see if he has anything of value to offer. It would be one thing if either Adams or Ruiz were killing it but they never have, or been particularly close. He's probably not going to ever contribute (and he's struggling in AAA this season), but it would be nice to find out for sure while the existing options also contribute nothing to very little.

[imref]

I still wish Millas would be given more than a week's worth of PAs to see if he has anything of value to offer. It would be one thing if either Adams or Ruiz were killing it but they never have, or been particularly close. He's probably not going to ever contribute (and he's struggling in AAA this season), but it would be nice to find out for sure while the existing options also contribute nothing to very little.

Millas has been our top catcher this year at Rochester and has posted .259 BA / .695 OPS. I think his ceiling is a MLB backup catcher at this point.

[nobleisthyname]

Millas has been our top catcher this year at Rochester and has posted .259 BA / .695 OPS. I think his ceiling is a MLB backup catcher at this point.

Yeah I don't think Millas is going to break out and become a major league starter at this point in his career, but I'm really not a fan of Adams (or Ruiz, but Millas isn't ever taking his spot).

[JCA-CrystalCity]

The Millas / Adams debate is sort of the reverse of Ginger / Mary Ann.

[imref]

The Millas / Adams debate is sort of the reverse of Ginger / Mary Ann.

more like a debate between Mrs and Mrs. Howell?

[imref]

Knizner signs a minor league deal with the Giants.