Former Wolfpacker Andrew Knizner powers St. Louis Cardinals past Braves

Just last week we told you to pay attention to former NC State catcher Andrew Knizner who is slotting in as the backup catcher for the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals.

In that piece, we explained that the Cardinal’s long-time backstop Yadi Molina would be retiring at the end of the season, and they had been prepping Knizner to take over as the starter for the Hall of Famer next season.

We also explained that Knizner needed to finish the season strong after hitting in the low .200s on the heels of a season where he hit just .174. Cardinals coach Oliver Marmol also publically challenged Knizner in a press conference, saying they needed to see him swing the bat better.

Knizner seems to have gotten the message.

On Satruday night, the 27-year-old, 4-year pro made his presence felt, crushing a 2-run homer to left, which opened up the scoring in a game that Cardinals would eventually win by 1.

Andrew Knizner OUTTA HERE
pic.twitter.com/tJDVkMZXdW

— Starting 9 (@Starting9) August 28, 2022

Knizner finished the game 1-2 and was 2-4 in his previous game. Meaning, since we posted our piece on Knizner, he’s 3 for his last 6. Good for a .500 average.

Actually, Knizner had been quietly heating up before Marmol called him out. His .280 average in July was his best month to date, and August has been even better. The former Pack backstop is now hitting a sizzling .306 with a home run for the month.

If he can keep it up, Knizner will make it easy for the Cardinals to hand him the reigns as starting catcher in 2023.