The Mariners selected catcher Andrew Knapp onto the big league roster before Monday's matchup with the Orioles. Fellow backstop Luis Torrens is headed to the 10-day injured list with left shoulder inflammation. Seattle already had a vacancy on the 40-man roster.
Knapp signed a minor league contract with the M’s last month. He’s played at Triple-A Tacoma since then, putting up only a .198/.250/.432 line in 22 games. The switch-hitting backstop also didn’t provide much offense during a brief early-season run with the Pirates, and he’s coming off a .152/.215/.214 showing over 159 plate appearances with the Phillies last year. Aside from an excellent 33-game stretch with Philadelphia in 2020, Knapp has been a below-average offensive player. He owns a .210/.310/.315 line in parts of six MLB seasons.
Despite those struggles at the plate, the 30-year-old gets the call to add some depth behind the dish. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times tweets that Torrens was injured during Sunday's fracas between the Mariners and Angels — one which resulted in the handing down of 12 suspensions. Torrens wasn’t among the players disciplined, but he’ll have his own brawl-induced absence from the playing field.
Seattle has already been without Tom Murphy, and Torrens’ injury left Cal Raleigh as the only healthy catcher on the 40-man roster. The M’s had no alternative but to add a No. 2 option, and they’ll turn to the veteran Knapp in that role. The club didn’t provide a recovery timetable for Torrens, who is hitting .222/.280/.241 on the season.
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