Phillies select backstop Knapp in second round
MILWAUKEE -- The Phillies have some pretty good catchers in their organization, but they found another one they liked Thursday.
They selected catcher Andrew Knapp in the second round (53rd overall pick) of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft.
MLB.com said in its scouting report about the University of California, Berkeley backstop: "He has a lot of work to do defensively behind the plate, though he does have a solid arm. He is showing, as he has with some very strong summer ball performances, that he can hit. Knapp has the chance to hit for average and power. The team that feels his defense will improve with more time behind the plate and some patience, will likely take him early in the hopes he can be a solid offensive-minded backstop."
Knapp hit .350 with 16 doubles, eight home runs, 41 RBIs, a .544 slugging percentage and a .434 on-base percentage in 54 games this season.
His father, Mike, also was a catcher at Cal. The California Angels drafted him in the 15th round in 1986. He played 11 seasons in the Minor Leagues.
Day 2 of the Draft continues with Rounds 3-10, streamed live on MLB.com on Friday, beginning with a preview show at 12:30 p.m. And Rounds 11-40 will be streamed live on MLB.com on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m.
MLB.com's coverage includes Draft Central, the Top 100 Draft Prospects list and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of Draft-eligible players. You can also keep up to date by following @MLBDraft on Twitter. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft.
In the Pipeline: The Phillies have catching depth in the organization, but they can always use more.
They have Tommy Joseph (Triple-A), Sebastian Valle (Double-A) and Cameron Rupp (Double-A) at the upper levels, but that should have no effect on Knapp. He can progress at his own pace as these things always sort themselves out.