Mariners select catcher Andrew Knapp

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.