Andrew Knapp, who spent the first five of his seven major league seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, announced his retirement Sunday in a post to his Instagram account.
“Every ball players [sic] career has to come to an end at some point and now is my time to hang em up,” Knapp wrote. “God has blessed me with an amazing career and I feel so grateful to have gotten to play for as long as I have.”
Knapp, 33, was the Phillies’ second-round pick in the 2013 draft out of UC Berkeley. The Northern California native slashed .209/.309/.312 in 328 career games (2017-24) with the Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and San Francisco Giants. In 2024, Knapp played his final three major league games with San Francisco, going 1 for 6 with two strikeouts.
“Ever since I can remember I wanted to be a professional baseball player,” Knapp wrote on Instagram. “Some of my earliest memories are at the ballpark and in the clubhouses with my dad and his teammates. I completely dedicated my life to the game, and the game blessed me with so much. “Baseball has given me relationships that I will have for the rest of my life. It has taught be [sic] how to fail and how to persevere.
It has taught me how to be confident but humble. It has taught me that people will remember you more because of what kind of person you are rather than what kind of player you were.”
Among those who left comments on Knapp’s post was his former manager in Philadelphia, Gabe Kapler, who is now the assistant general manager for the Miami Marlins. “Stellar career, @theknappyboy5!” Kapler wrote. “Congratulations.” Knapp was never the Phillies’ primary catcher during his time in Philadelphia. He was the backup to Cameron Rupp, Jorge Alfaro and J.T. Realmuto, and a valuable bench weapon as a switch-hitter.
Knapp’s best season statistically was the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he slashed .278/.404/.444 in 33 games, and his 0.8 Wins Above Replacement (per Baseball Reference) established his career high.
The son of a journeyman minor league catcher Mike Knapp, Andrew Knapp also spent time in the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers organizations the last two years but did not appear in a major league game. On July 1, 2018, Knapp pinch-hit for pitcher Nick Pivetta and hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning to give the Phillies a 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals. It was the first walk-off homer by a Phillies player in more than two years.
